Paul McGinley putting in ground work for Rio Olympic gold standard

Ryder Cup-winning captain Paul McGinley is already planning Ireland’s bid for Olympic golf glory in Rio in 2016, and says he will travel to Brazil at least twice in 2015 to scout the course that the likes of Rory McIlroy will confront.

“The course is under construction and they hope to have a test tournament this year,” he told a sports business conference in Dublin yesterday. “I’ll play there, study weather patterns and so on — basically look at the exam paper and relate that to the players.

“It’s close to the sea, so it’ll be a little windy, but the designer they’ve picked, Gil Hanse, is very good, I love his work. It’ll be a bit of a linksy style feel to it.”