Furyk relishing Olympic opportunity

Jim Furyk is relishing the opportunity of going to the Olympics but is not convinced that golf should be included.

Furyk has enjoyed something of a resurgence this year, ending a near five-year wait for a title to win the RBC Heritage in April after beating Kevin Kisner in a play-off.

The American has recorded four other top-five finishes which has helped him climb up to sixth in the world rankings, with a realistic chance of being included in the US team in Brazil as one of the top four-ranked players.

Furyk admits that he had not really thought that he would be in with a chance of going to the Olympics, but would like to nail down a place for family reasons.

“I just assumed it wasn’t going to be an issue for me,” Furyk told espn.go.com. “Is it something I’m interested in? I am, but it’s for very selfish reasons. Instead of looking at the big picture what golf in the Olympics means for our sport, next year my kids will be 12 and 14.

“If I were to play well enough in the next year and I could go to the Olympics, it would be really cool to take my kids.”

Furyk is not wholly convinced that golf should be on the Olympic agenda as the showpiece event does not hold the same meaning as other sports.

“I think of the Winter Olympics and [American speed skater] Dan Jansen dying a thousand deaths. He’s the best guy and can’t win the gold medal. He finally comes through and wins the gold medal,” he added.

“It’s a crowning moment of his career, what he’s worked for all those years. We still have the Masters and the US Open and the British Open and the PGA.

“As much as I love basketball, I really don’t care to watch basketball in the Olympics. I’ll check the score and I hope we win.”

Tagged Jim Furyk, Olympics, Olympics 2016, Rio 2016, USA