Wednesday 27 April 2016 13:40, UK
Robert Lee reflects on Rory McIlroy's decision to stay loyal to the European Tour, looks at the issues facing players considering a trip to the Olympics and discusses what the future could hold for Tiger Woods…
It's great for Keith Pelley and the European Tour that Rory, our top player, is coming across and playing at the Open de France at Le Golf National. It's something I'm very pleased out, that's for sure.
The European Tour was put in a difficult position with the movement of the WGC-Bridgestone to the week opposite the French Open, but they couldn't mess around with the tournament when it has been such a high calibrate event for so long and deserves the Tour's loyalty.
"If Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth or someone like that ends up with a gold medal, will they feel like they would after a major victory? I don't think so."
If you're on the PGA Tour and you want to play in the Ryder Cup, then playing in France is a no-brainer for me. Le Golf National is a great course, it's going to be a Ryder Cup venue in 2018 and then there's also the added incentive of double event points being up for grabs.
I think the Tour has got some ambitious plans and I'm sure the French Open would have been right up there in their top events. I'm really thrilled for them because over the years because they've put up big prize money and not got quite the high-profile fields they would have wanted, so this year with Rory changes all that.
Busy schedule
There's always a rammed schedule over the summer, which makes it hard for players to pick where and when to play and stay fresh for the majors, but this year is even tougher with everything squashed together because of the Olympics.
It's obvious for some of the high-profile players that the idea of an Olympics just isn't floating their boat. We've already seen a few pull out, which we wouldn't see happen for one of the majors where they'd all want to be in it to win it.
If Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth or someone like that ends up with a gold medal, will they feel like they would after a major victory? I don't think so.
Not all of the top golfers are going to play but they're not Olympic athletes, they're just trying to squeeze it in to their schedule as opposed to training specifically for Rio.
For track and field or the majority of sports, that's their pinnacle and there's nothing higher for them to achieve, whereas that's just not the case in golf.
Maybe in years to come an Olympic gold might be as coveted as a major title, but that's assuming it remains an Olympic sport for a long time. The good thing for golf though is the national recognition it will get in under developed golfing countries because of its inclusion in the Olympics and that can only be a good thing.
Tiger to return?
Everyone wants to see Tiger Woods back at something like he was, but he was playing badly before his body packed up and was really struggling.
There was talk that he might try and play Quail Hollow before potentially the US Open, which if he does then I don't see why he wouldn't play at Oakmont.
It will be a difficult test though and he hasn't had a lot of game time, so does he want to go out there and risk shooting over par twice? I just don't know how ready his game will be.
Even if his body is fully fit and like being brand new, how much can he improve his game between now and then from a place where he's hardly played? That in itself is a big puzzle to solve.
He has got to be absolutely sure before he returns, as I don't think there's any coming back after this one. If he comes back and the back breaks down I think that's it, as he has rushed back several times before.
In the past you must assume he has had the best advice and maybe not followed it, with a slightly Superman attitude. If he's getting close to a return, then expect his name to be on the slow boil in the coming weeks.
Looking ahead
I'm in the studio again this week for the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, where Justin Rose is defending champion. We've got Danny Willett in the studio with us on Thursday which will be fun, and I'm assuming he'll be bringing his Green Jacket!
Rose may have won last year's tournament but he has been a bit patchy so far this year and starting to fiddle with his putting, so I think it's hard to look past Jason Day this week.
There are also quite a lot of decent players who have gone to Beijing for the Volvo China Open, where I'm going to pick Bernd Wiesberger as someone who will have a good week.
Watch the Volvo China Open and the Zurich Classic of New Orleans throughout the week on Sky Sports 4 - your home of golf
