The Men

A
Perfect Day for Jason

Jason Day
climbed to the head of the Olympic Rankings on the strength of another towering
week of world class golf. The Australian supplanted long-time leader Jordan
Spieth as No.1 after defeating Louis Oosthuizen in the final of the WGC-Dell
Match Play in Austin, Texas.

Day, now
also the world No.1, was not the only beneficiary in the quest for Olympic
qualification. Oosthuizen moved into the top-10 at No.10, demoting England’s
Danny Willett to 11th and Oosthuizen’s fellow countryman, Brendan Grace, to
12th. Korea’s Byeong-Hun An is now 15th from 16th.

However,
the man who made most ground was dashing Spaniard Rafa Cabrera-Bello, whose
victory over Rory McIlroy in Austin earned him third place in the Match Play
and a jump of nine places on the Road to Rio from 27th to 18th.

A
Mexican wave from Rodolfo

Rodolfo
Cazaubon, the 26 year old from Mexico, is a new entry on the Olympic Rankings
after finishing in a tie for third place alongside English Ryder Cup player,
Ian Poulter, in the Puerto Rico Open at Coco Beach Golf and Country Club.

Cazaubon,
who competes on the Web.com Tour, came up just one shot away from joining the
play-off which saw Tony Finau beat his fellow American Steve Marino at the
second extra hole.

The reward,
for Cazaubon was to bring his Olympic dream closer to reality by joining the
elite list for Rio de Janeiro in 54th place, with Siddikur Rahman of Bangladesh
dropping out of the top-60.

Quote…Unquote

"It’s not so much the No. 1 rank that
really gets me excited. It’s more so the journey and the process that it’s
taken. To get to the top of your sport takes a long time and so for me it’s
that delayed gratification. To be No. 1 in the world is fantastic."….Jason
Day.

The
Women

Lydia Ko
provided another example of how she can light up Rio by winning the 11th LPGA
Tour title of her fledgling career at Carlsbad, California.

The New
Zealand teenager displayed the full range of her skills ahead of the first
major championship of the year by winning the Kia Classic. Ko’s opening score
of 68 turned out to be her worst round of the week as she strung together three
successive 67s to beat Korea’s Inbee Park by four strokes.

It’s a case
of ‘as you were’ at the top of the Olympic Rankings with Ko occupying the No.1
position and Park tucked in behind in second place.

Korea
currently have four eligible players within the top-15 in the Olympic Rankings
with the United States on three.

Quote…Unquote

"I think there’s always something I can get
better at. My trainer, says: ‘Better every day’. We are just trying to get a
little better every single day. That’s kind of my goal and the quote that
motivates me"…Lydia Ko.

About
the International Golf Federation:                                                
              

The IGF was
founded in 1958 to encourage the international development of the game and to
employ golf as a vehicle to foster friendship and sportsmanship. Recognised by
the International Olympic Committee as the official international federation
for golf, the IGF is comprised of 133 Federations from 127 countries. The IGF
serves as the International Olympic Committee’s recognised International
Federation for golf.