FILE PHOTO: Golf - The 147th Open Championship - Carnoustie, Britain - July 17, 2018 Thailand's Jazz Janewattananond in action during the practice round REUTERS/Jason Cairnduff

 

(Reuters) - If Jazz Janewattananond's father had his way he would be gearing up to make a splash in the pool at the 2020 Olympics but instead the Thai golfer is banking on birdies to bring him a medal at the Tokyo Games.

 

The 25-year-old, who said he was drawn to the Olympics as a boy by Michael Phelps' dominating performances, will be competing against the likes of Rory McIlroy and Hideki Matsuyama at the Kasumigaseki Country Club on the outskirts of Tokyo.

 

"Growing up, not many people knew I swam a lot," Jazz said in comments published by the PGA tour. "My dad wanted me to become a swimmer.

 

"When I was between 4- to 8-years-old, I used to swim a few kilometres every day. It was crazy. Now I won't even go into the water.

 

"I would follow athletics and swimming and there was no golf back then. I used to watch Phelps dominate the pool, so it was a thing. The Olympics is the biggest stage for sports and it's a huge priority for me."

 

At the age of 14, Jazz became the youngest golfer to make the cut on the Asian Tour at an event in 2010, then became a professional a day before turning 15.

 

He took a brief sabbatical from the sport in 2016 to become a monk and the following year picked up his first Asian Tour win in Bangladesh.

 

Now a six-time winner on the Asian Tour, Jazz came agonisingly close to his first European Tour title earlier this year when he lost to Daniel van Tonder in a playoff at the Savannah Classic.

 

"I don't like to daydream and I don't say things like I want to win the Masters one day or The Open," he added. "I won't day-dream except for the Olympics. The Olympics is different and I would often think what if I can win an Olympic medal.

 

"Golf is not like any other sport and you don't need to be the best. You just need to have the right week.

 

"It would be mad to get a medal, it'll be crazy if I do."

 

(Reporting by Sudipto Ganguly in Mumbai; editing by Peter Rutherford)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2021-07-09

15 minutes ago, webfact said:

 

"I would follow athletics and swimming and there was no golf back then.

Is he a time traveller as well as I thought golf had been around for 150 odd yrs .. 

 

15 minutes ago, webfact said:

 

"Growing up, not many people knew I swam a lot

 

15 minutes ago, webfact said:

 

At the age of 14, Jazz became the youngest golfer

 

15 minutes ago, webfact said:

 

He took a brief sabbatical from the sport in 2016 to become a monk

A golfer , a swimmer an' a monk called Jazz .. there's gotta be a joke in there somewhere .. 

The Olympics, another global scam by the elites.

 

It's bankrupted several host cities, the promised windfall from the billions spent on flashy infrastructure is almost never recovered. 

 

Why else would it go ahead against almost everyone in Japan saying please, for the love of humanity, can it!

2 minutes ago, chalawaan said:

The Olympics, another global scam by the elites.

 

It's bankrupted several host cities, the promised windfall from the billions spent on flashy infrastructure is almost never recovered. 

 

Why else would it go ahead against almost everyone in Japan saying please, for the love of humanity, can it!

It needs to get back to core athletics...... field and track............prune it right down to make it manageable and more focused.

Just now, Surelynot said:

It needs to get back to core athletics...... field and track............prune it right down to make it manageable and more focused.

Better yet, let Athens host it in perpetuity. It has a suitable Summer climate, it would save so much money, and eliminate bidding corruption, also it would cut out the IOC middleman to a large degree, and give Greece a much needed tourism boost. 

They could still move the Winter Olympics around as a booby prize. ????

Olympics if full of daft sports now. Should only have sports where you actually have to break into a sweat when competing !

 

I mean if he's good with the ball, this could be an olympic athlete ! Ridiculous

3 minutes ago, chalawaan said:

Better yet, let Athens host it in perpetuity. It has a suitable Summer climate, it would save so much money, and eliminate bidding corruption, also it would cut out the IOC middleman to a large degree, and give Greece a much needed tourism boost. 

They could still move the Winter Olympics around as a booby prize. ????

Like it.

Posts removed that were, although interesting, too far off topic.