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It has been 104 years since golf has graced the Olympic programme and for industry titans like PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem and Chairman of Augusta National Golf Club, Billy Payne, who was instrumental in bringing the Olympics to Atlanta in 1996, having their beloved sport included in the games has been as problematic as getting the Olympic torch to Beijing.
Finchem and the PGA TOUR were the last of golf’s major institutions to get on board with the plan because of questions about scheduling conflict and player participation. Now, even moving forward with a united front from golf’s pseudo leadership council, the question remains whether the Olympics will decide to include golf or if the sport should be included. The sport was turned down for the 2012 Olympics in London and a vote is nearing for the 2016 games, which don’t yet have a site.
There are currently 28 sports on the Olympic programme and the International Olympic Committee intends to keep it that way, meaning a sport must be drop so another can be added.
When browsing the list of competitions for 2008, BMX Cycling immediately jumps out as an early candidate that golf surely should be able to oust. But on second thought, why should athletes in sports such as Equestrian events, handball, wrestling, rowing, badmiton and table tennis be deprived of their one moment in the sun. After all, even moderately successful golfers on the PGA TOUR live like kings in the Tiger Woods era.
When asked about golf’s inclusion in the Olympics before this year’s Masters, Phil Mickelson said, “I do think that having golf become an Olympic sport is a very important thing for the game of golf, and I would definitely play if given the opportunity to represent my country.”
First, I don’t believe Mickelson or any of his counterparts in the Top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings, or Top 30 for that matter, would be inclined to participate if a better opportunity presented itself or if they simply decided they were exhausted from the season and just couldn’t make the trip.
Secondly, if the field wouldn’t be representative of the world’s best the game should be left to amateurs and surely that isn’t the intention of golf’s governing bodies.
Let’s not forget the dwindling interest in Olympic sports such as basketball, baseball, soccer and even hockey that use professional players. For some reason those competitions have just lost their luster since the days of the Dream Team and the Miracle on Ice.
If golf is accepted in the Olympics, I don’t necessarily agree that its inclusion would dramatically enhance the game’s scope worldwide or that a large audience would tune in to watch the four rounds of play without the world’s top players. The one positive would be financial benefits to developing countries that have participants in the event, entitling them to some of the proceeds generated by the Olympics.
Adding golf to the roster of Olympic sports would be welcome but if the game’s latest attempt to get in fails, it wouldn’t be the end of the world. Golfers have plenty of opportunities to represent their countries in events like the Ryder Cup, Presidents Cup and World Golf Championships events.
Maybe it would be best to let the BMX bikers have a turn. I’m sure The Golf Channel will be running some Tiger-related programming to make up for the lack of an Olympic golf telecast.
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