RIO DE JANEIRO _ Goodbye, doom.
Golf's return to the Olympics has gotten ripped by prominent media members like ESPN's Scott Van Pelt. And in bypassing the Games, the world's top four of Jason Day, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy expressed themselves as clearly as possible.
But now the golf competition is almost here (Thursday), and the Americans who have chosen to participate are beaming.
Rickie Fowler, Bubba Watson, Matt Kuchar and Patrick Reed could not have expressed any more patriotism in a Tuesday news conference unless they'd interrupted a question by singing the Star-Spangled Banner.
Here are seven takeaways from what they said:
