Xander Schauffele was a happy man on August 1st, just outside of Tokyo.
Sean Zak
No media experience of 2021 can compare to the jaunt I took across the world to cover the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
There was the endless array of tests just to leave Chicago, the 341-person plane carrying just 40 people, the four-hour long waits at customs upon arrival … and that was just to get there. What followed my arrival in Japan for the Olympic Games was a completely unique media experience.
There were no spectators allowed at Kasumigaseki Country Club, but eventually hundreds of volunteers tracked native son Hideki Matsuyama. There was no maskless mingling between players allowed in the clubhouse, until a rain delay prompted upheaval of that plan. There was no family and friends allowed to be there watching the action, except of course if that family or friend was a coach, caddie or player assistant.
Yes, this was a pair of golf tournaments unlike any other I’d seen before, and I tried to capture what it was like to be a media member on the other side of the Pacific those two weeks. Check it out in the video below!
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