USPGA Championship or Gold Medal?

We asked a selection of European Tour players if they would prefer to win a USPGA Championship or Gold Medal ahead of the sport's return to the Olympics at Rio 2016

USPGA Championship or Gold Medal?

We asked a selection of European Tour players if they would prefer to win a USPGA Championship or Gold Medal ahead of the sport's return to the Olympics at Rio 2016...

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Graeme Storm: A Gold Medal doesn’t compare to the Majors, but I think most players would take one over 10 European Tour titles.

Related: one Major or ten European Tour titles

Lee Slattery: Definitely the USPGA Championship. Golf has just come back into the Olympics and no one really knows how it’s going to affect the game at the moment. Obviously there have been a lot of withdrawals, but regardless of that, you have to take the Major.

SSP Chawrasia: I think Olympic Gold, especially as it’s the first time it’s been in in my generation. It would also be great for more people in India to see the sport.

Bradley Dredge: I think I’d be for the USPGA because it’s a traditional Major. I know a Gold Medal is pretty rare, but I’d have to go for the traditional Major in golf. I think golfers care and I think they would love to do it, but our ‘Olympics’, in a way, are those four Majors. The Olympics is once every four years and very special, but I think there’s more focus on the Majors.

Lucas Bjerregaard: It’s a tough one, because obviously the USPGA Championship has a lot of history.  Golf in the Olympics doesn’t have that yet, so it’s maybe a better question to ask in 20 years. But I’d love to win a Gold Medal. It must be special to win an Olympic Gold Medal and play for your country.

Troy Merritt: Absolutely no doubt: USPGA Championship.

Joost Luiten: I would say the USPGA Championship at the moment because golf is a sport of tradition. The USPGA Championship has more tradition, but that could be different in 40 years.

Oliver Wilson: Right now? The USPGA Championship, without a shadow of a doubt, and I think that’s part of the problem at the moment with the Olympics and golf. In years to come – and if they have us back after 2020, which I hope they do as it’s something I’ve always wanted to experience – there could be a time when a Gold Medal might rank alongside a Major in terms of prestige. But at the moment it’s new, there’s no history, so it just doesn’t have the same impact.

Rory McIlroy: I always say to everyone that we play the ‘Olympics’ four times a year. We grow up dreaming of Green Jackets and Claret Jugs, not Gold Medals.

Danny Willett: USPGA. The Olympics is great, and it’s what so many athletes around the world strive towards, but it will never be on par with a Major victory.