Golf officials announced on Monday that men's and women's Gold Medalists at this summer's Rio Olympics "will be rewarded, if they need it, with exemptions to all of the major golf tournaments in 2017," according to the AFP. The news will come as a "boost to the Rio tournament," which sees golf's return to the Olympics for the first time since 1904 but which has "not been met with universal acclaim among the players, especially over the issue of scheduling." Major championship Masters Chair Billy Payne said that golf's visibility "will be dramatically elevated by the global platform that only the Olympics offer." Gold Medal winners will get "exemptions for the Masters, and for the men's and women's U.S. and British Opens and PGA Championships." Additionally, the Rio women's champion "would be able to play in the two other women's majors -- the ANA Inspiration, from next year, and the Evian Championships, in France in September" (AFP, 4/5). The BBC reported while some of the world's top players would already hold exemptions to the majors, PGA of America CEO Pete Bevacqua said, "From our perspective, whether it's someone that is in the top rankings of the world or someone who is that Cinderella story, in both ways it's a positive" (BBC, 4/5). GOLFWEEK's Alex Miceli noted the Olympic Gold Medal "increased in value even before it has been awarded in golf's return" to the Games. But the move to "create additional invitations or exemptions seems more symbolic than substantive, because most of the Olympians will be determined off the world rankings, the same rankings that already are used to determine exemptions into golf's top events" (GOLFWEEK, 4/4). Golf Channel’s Phil Blackmar said, “It’s a great statement that all the major golf organizations around the world value what the Olympics has to offer, and I think that statement alone really means a lot” ("Morning Drive," Golf Channel, 4/5).
