Golf: Making the case for 2016

Olympic fans might have to brush up on some new sports or they might rejoice at the return of some familiar ones as the International Olympic Committee's executive board meets this week in Berlin to analyze bids from seven sports vying for a spot on the docket at the 2016 Olympic Games.

IOC president Jacques Rogge said Friday in published reports that a review of seven sports --- baseball, golf, karate, rugby sevens, roller sports, softball and squash --- will take place Thursday at a board meeting before the opening ceremony at the IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Berlin.

The IOC will vote on Oct. 9 for a maximum of two sports to be added to the Games at the 121^st IOC Session and XIII Olympic Congress in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Softball and baseball had been part of the Olympic Games but were hit with a huge curveball in 2005 when the IOC voted to exclude the sports for the London 2012 Games. Both sports were part of the Olympic program last summer in Beijing. Golf was an Olympic sport once, back in 1904 in St. Louis.

Rugby sevens, squash, karate, golf and roller sports made bids to become Olympic sports back in 2005 but none of them earned required two-thirds majority vote. This time around, only a simple majority is required.

Today, we examine each of these sports as the vote for their inclusion approaches.

Instead of having to work to sell the addition of another prestigious world-class championship event to players, the International Golf Federation wound up with the world's most famous players pitching the idea for them.

Tiger Woods, Lorena Ochoa, Colin Montgomerie, Jack Nicklaus and Annika Sorenstam are among the game's greats-past and present-who have stepped forward to take on prominent roles as part of golf's bid to be included in the 2016 Olympic Games.

Their support might have answered one of golf's biggest questions-whether the top names would want to compete at an Olympic tournament-as the sport is ready to be compared to baseball, karate, roller sports, rugby sevens, softball and squash, the other sports that made bids to the International Olympic Committee.

If the IOC selects golf, the sport will return to the Games after a 112-year absence. Golf only has been played in one Olympic Games, back in 1904 in St. Louis.

"We are in the process of following up on the program with comments on remarks and questions about our formal bid," said Ty Votaw, a PGA Tour official who is serving as the executive director of the IGF Olympic Golf Committee. "We have a couple of things to clarify, but otherwise all the official steps are done.

Cooperation among players and various golf governing bodies from around the world marked the work that has been done to date.

"We felt going in that there were probably two issues that would keep coming up," Votaw said. "From conversations with IOC members, many of whom we spoke to at the (2008) Beijing Games, they wondered: one, will the top players support it? And two, does the sport speak as one in terms of the Olympics?''

It was important for golf's leaders to show they could work together and gain support of the game's top players. Tennis returned to the Olympics in 1988 after a 64-year absence and struggled at first to find a format that attracted the interest of top players.

"The combination of Tiger Woods and Lorena Ochoa and all the other players who were part of the video presentation demonstrated the support of the top players," Votaw said.

Sixteen top players from around the world were part of the IGF's video that was presented to the IOC's executive board.

"I can't think of a better sport to be in the Olympic Games," Woods, the world's top-ranked male golfer and one of the most popular athletes in the world.

The golfers on the video offered convincing statements that, like other athletes, they would consider representing their countries in Olympic competition to be an honor.

Mexico's Lorena Ochoa, the Ladies Professional Golf Association Player of the Year in 2006, 2007 and 2008, made it clear that the current top women's player would want to be part of the Olympic Games.

"As an athlete, the Olympics are everything," she said. "We dream about representing our country."

A group of 18 players, including Woods, Ochoa, Montgomerie, Australia's Karrie Webb, Ireland's Padraig Harrington, South Africa's Ernie Els and Spain's Sergio Garcia, got involved by adding personal letters of support to a brochure detailing the bid to IOC representatives from their countries.

Part of the bid, however, is a proposed format to determine the competitors.

The IGF's current proposal would result in men from 30 countries and women from 31 making up the 60-player fields for 72 holes of stroke play, based on a recent look at the world rankings. The format calls for the top 15 in the world rankings to be eligible automatically then to have additional players added, according to world rankings, with a maximum of two players from each country that does not already have two or more players in the top 15.

The most important issue for the IGF now is to get into the Olympic Games. The final details of the format can be adjusted.

"We're flexible," Votaw said. "We've suggested this format, but we're interested and anxious to hear the IOC's opinion. Whether it's two per country beyond the top 15 or three, we have some flexibility there."

Votaw is pleased with how many organizations have already been involved in the process of getting golf's bid together.

The United States Golf Association and the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, which handle the rule-making side of the game, started work on formation of the IGF Olympic Golf Committee. They added the five professional tours that oversee the major men's championships and the top women's tour-the PGA, PGA of America, the European Tour, The Masters Tournament and the LPGA.

Those seven organizations began working together and a request was made to PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem to have Votaw serve as "quarterback" to lead the process.

"It was something that I was very proud and honored to be asked," said Votaw, who remains as the PGA Tour's executive vice president of communications and international affairs. "What it has all come down to is preparing our bid in a manner that the sport has been conducted."

The IGF's Olympic Golf Committee now includes 19 organizations from around the world by including other professional tours.

The IGF has relied on the name recognition of the players as well as the organizational structure of the various golf federations. It named World Golf Hall of Famers Nicklaus and Sorenstam as Global Ambassadors in December to help support the push to win Olympic acceptance.

"As I step aside from competitive golf, a major objective of mine is to help grow the game around the world and I can think of no better way to grow it than through the Olympics," Sorenstam, a native of Sweden who was the LPGA Tour's Player of the Year eight times between 1995 and 2005, said during a teleconference.

Nicklaus, a winner of a record 18 professional major championships, is among those who see the Olympics and golf as an ideal fit. "Golf truly embodies the Olympic spirit with a foundation built upon honor, integrity, dignity and sportsmanship," he said.

Sorenstam and Great Britain's Montgomerie, the European Ryder Cup captain, were part of the IGF's final presentation.

"I have never seen the level of unanimity on one issue that has been exhibited here in our sport," Votaw said.

One of the big drawbacks about having golf in the Olympic Games is whether it would end up as tennis has. As weighty as an Olympic gold medal is, most tennis stars dream more about winning Wimbledon. In golf, athletes envision wearing a green jacket. Where would the Olympics stand?

The other drawback is the perception of further tarnishing the Olympic image. When the Dream Team came along in the summer of 1992 in Barcelona, many fans and Olympic athletes wondered how Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan would mesh with the no-name judo star. These days, however, there are many more professional athletes involved in the Olympic Games, so chances are, Tiger Woods would be welcomed by the Olympians, even if he didn't check in at a room in the athletes' village.

Overall, however, golf officials seem pleased with their presentations to the IOC.

"If we shoot 64 and two other sports shoot 62, we'll say, 'Well done,' and move on to try to grow the sport worldwide in other ways," Votaw said. "It has been a gratifying experience.

"We're looking forward to (the vote). We're hopeful, but we also know the other sports have done a good job, too."

Story courtesy Red Line Editorial, Inc. Tom Robinson is a freelance contributor for teamusa.org. This story was not subject to the approval of the United States Olympic Committee or any National Governing Bodies.