Even Tiger Woods’ agent says the Olympic golf experience was ‘exciting as it gets’

Tiger Woods’ agent has shared more than a few glorious victories with his client, but none of them felt the same way as of the moment as two of his other charges, Justin Rose and Matt Kuchar, stood on the podium as Olympic medal winners in Rio on Sunday.

“I was telling my wife I’ve been doing this 25 years and have seen some pretty incredible moments with Tiger, but I just can’t describe the feeling,” Steinberg told Geoff Shackelford after Rose took home the gold and Kuchar the bronze. “I’m usually not that emotional but this was as exciting as it gets.”

Steinberg was hardly the only member of the golf community thrilled by the game’s jubilant return to the Olympics, but he certainly had one of the best vantage points from which to view the crowning moment of the four-day men’s event. Woods’ longtime agent who now reps two Olympic medal winners got to stand on the stage behind Rose, Kuchar and silver medal winner Henrik Stenson as the players took the podium.

Woods was one of the strongest supporters of bringing golf back to the Olympics after a 112-year absence and was certainly watching from afar, as his congratulatory tweet to the medalists and “all golfers in Rio” confirmed.

With Lydia Ko and the world’s best women players about to take center stage for Act 2 of Golf Returns to the Olympics, the hand wringing over high-profile male players Jason Day, Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy skipping the summer games and other Rio-related problems seemed so last week.

“Maybe it was sheer amount of negativity in advance of the event, but it just came off so flawlessly,” Steinberg said. “The feeling here and the mood right now, I just don’t know how to put it in words. It’s different than anything I’ve experienced in sports.”

It’s really a shame that a certain Olympic golf proponent and 14-time major champion could not have been part of the festivities.