Sami Valimaki is representing his native Finland on the Olympics this week, however he served his nation in a a lot better capability earlier than the Paris video games.
Earlier than turning skilled in 2019, Valimaki spent six months within the Finnish army, a compulsory requirement for all male residents. Whereas there, he nonetheless had time to play golf and work on his sport amid his coaching workouts, as he was part of the sports activities division—the a part of the military that permits athletes to proceed to work on their craft along with their coaching. However when a reporter requested Valimaki about his particular function, the Finlander gave a quite blunt, morbid response.
“Capturing heads,” Valimaki stated.
“We simply prepare in large areas, and I used to be within the sports activities military, so I had a bit extra, how would you say, like it’s good to be two weeks in, after which you will have three or 4 days off, and even when I’ve some golf tournaments, I might nonetheless go there and be one week away. So it wasn’t that strict. So that they made it simpler for us.”
Valimaki added that his army expertise didn’t have an effect on his golf sport an excessive amount of. His outcomes present that, too, as he went on to win the Oman Open in March 2020. He then claimed his second DP World Tour title final October in Qatar, which helped him safe a PGA Tour card for the 2024 season.
This 12 months, Valimaki has struggled throughout his first 12 months on the PGA Tour, lacking 11 cuts whereas recording only one top-10: a solo second end to Jake Knapp on the Mexico Open. However up to now, on the Males’s Olympic Golf Competitors, by 36 holes, Valimaki sits in a tie for nineteenth, together with Collin Morikawa, Rory McIlroy, and Ludvig Åberg.
Jack Milko is a golf workers author for SB Nation’s Enjoying By way of. Make sure to take a look at @_PlayingThrough for extra golf protection. You may observe him on Twitter @jack_milko as effectively.
