By Rahu; Banerji
Udayan Mane will tee off with late inclusion Jorge Campillo of Spain and Ondrej Lieser of the Czech Republic in the opening round of the men’s golf competition of the Tokyo Olympics on Thursday.
The trio will be last out on day one and first up on Friday while Anirban Lahiri will have New Zealand’s Ryan Fox and C.T. Pan of Taipei for company over the first two days. according to the draw released on Tuesday.
The India stars have been at practice since Monday to get a feel of the Kasumigaseki Country Club, which will host the men’s and women’s golf competitions.
There were some interesting groupings for the opening two rounds including Justin Thomas of the US who opens with fellow PGA Tour regulars Joaquin Neimann of Chile and Britain’s Paul Casey.
Such is also the case for Thomas’s team-mate Xander Schauffele who will be alongside Abraham Ancer of Mexico and South Africa’s Christian Bezuidenhout.
The most attention of course will be on home hero and 2021 Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama, who will play the opening rounds alongside Marc Leishman of Australia and Canada’s Corey Connors.
Other Asian starters in the Covid-hit field include Koreans Sung Jae Im and Si Woo Kim, Malaysia’s Gavin Green, Jazz Janewattanond and Gunn Charoenkul of Thailand and Juvic Pangusan of the Philippines.
For the two Korean superstars, this is a particularly important competition as a medal – of any colour – would exempt them from compulsory military service at home.
Opening honour for Hoshino
Meanwhile, Japan’s Rikuya Hoshino has been handed the honour of hitting the opening shot of the men’s competition at Kasumigaseki on Thursday, the IGF said on the day.
Hoshino, a five-time Japan Golf Tour winner will tee off the event as part of the first group along with Thomas Pieters of Belgium and Austria’s Sepp Straka.
“The fairway on the first hole is very narrow, so I’m definitely going to be nervous about that but I want to really focus on trying to hit the fairway and have a good start,” he said in a press conference with Matsuyama on Tuesday.
While most of the spotlight leading up to the men’s golf competition has been on Matsuyama, who won the Masters Tournament in April, Hoshino is relishing the opportunity of representing Japan and fighting for a podium finish.
“The Olympics is a stage that I’ve dreamed about since I was little growing up. And since the last edition of the Olympics, golf has been added and I’ve been wanting to participate.
“I’m finally happy to be able to join the Tokyo Olympics in my home country,” said Hoshino.
The slender local star is quietly confident he can enjoy a strong week.
Solid form
This season, Hoshino has won twice on the domestic circuit. Also, a T26 finish at the US Open in June for his best Major placing in four appearances has given him new self-belief he can go toe-to-toe with the game’s top stars.
“It’s going to be a very unique type of nervousness, but I’m going to try my best to win a medal,” he said.
“At the US Open, I went on to make the cut. So I felt like I could play well on the big stage and that became a catalyst to gain some confidence.”
With Jun Mizutani and Mima Ito making history for Japan on Monday with an epic comeback to give the nation its first-ever table tennis Olympic gold medal in mixed doubles, Hoshino hopes he and Matsuyama will also create their own Games moment.
“I’ve been watching other fellow Japanese athletes compete and last night, I watched our team win the table tennis gold medal, which was inspiring.
“I think I want to join them and do my best and convert the inspiration into playing well on the golf course,” said Hoshino.
Top group
World no. 3 Collin Morikawa, who won The Open Championship two weeks ago for his second Major victory, will launch his quest for gold alongside Ireland’s Rory McIlroy and Sungjae Im of Korea.
With a Green Jacket already in his wardrobe, Matsuyama is keen to grab gold despite the weight of a golf-mad nation resting on his shoulders.
“To be able to represent Japan and play in my home Olympics, this is probably the first and last time I’ll be able to do that,” said the 29-year-old.
“I’m very happy to be able to participate here. Three weeks ago, I got tested positive for Covid-19 and I wasn’t really sure if I’ll be able to make it to the stage here, so I’m here and I’m very happy.
“I won the Asia Pacific Amateur here 11 years ago which got me into the Masters, which I went on to win this year,” Matsuyama added.
“So, in a way Kasumigaseki has been a place for me to progress and grow. Hopefully, I can do the same this week and move to the another level.”
Also read: Covid tests rule Rahm, DeChambeau out of Olympic golf competition
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