Backing of Woods gives golf a fillip in Olympic bid

SINCE the most charismatic athlete in world sport, who also happens to be golf's No1 player, has endorsed the concept of the game as an Olympic discipline, the possibility of the International Olympic Committee including golf in the programme for the 2016 Games at an October meeting in Denmark in is higher than before.

Although Tiger Woods was, originally, cool on the idea of adding another tournament to an already-crowded calendar – the American could not envisage Olympic golf in the same category as the majors – the outstanding sportsman of his generation was among the top players who wrote personal letters of support this week to the IOC.

If it is easy to understand why the organisers of the Olympics would dearly love to bring Tiger & Co on board to compete for a gold medal, the incentive for golf lies at the opposite end of the spectrum, the grassroots level of the game in countries where the sport has yet to develop.

Being part of the Olympics won't make much of a difference to golf in Scotland or Sweden or the USA, but it could make a fundamental impact on growing the game in countries where only Olympic sports enjoy government support and investment. The revenue from TV coverage of the Olympics is also spent on improving facilities and coaching in many countries: golf would like to share in the distribution of those funds.

"It would mean a great deal, not just for the top players but for the way it will help us grow the game in countries where it's just starting," observed Peter Dawson, chief executive of the Royal and Ancient, who is also secretary of the International Golf Federation. "Golf would continue to grow at a faster pace as a result, and that's what I really want to see."

Bearing in mind there are already 60 million golfers in 120 countries around the globe, golf is hardly hiding its light under a bushel. Nevertheless, according to Tim Finchem, the commissioner of the US PGA Tour, "the impact (the Olympics] could potentially have on growing the game around the world is incredible."

Golf has tried and failed to join the party in the recent past. Indeed, had the London Games in 2012 included the sport then St Andrews could have staged the event on the Old Course. As things stand, the IOC has a decision to make on including any two from a short list of golf, baseball, karate, roller sports, rugby, softball and squash. If golf gets the nod, there will be championships for both men and women as participating countries send teams of three players to compete over 72 holes of stroke-play.

Thanks to the efforts of Dawson and David Fay, the chief executive of the United States Golf Association, the game's governing bodies have formed a powerful alliance with the professional tours which is expected to have a greater chance of success. When the IGF held a press conference at Royal Birkdale last summer, it was significant that Finchem and George O'Grady, the chief executive of the European Tour, were as supportive of golf's Olympic bid as those representing the amateur bodies.

Sir Craig Reedie, the former chairman of the British Olympic Association, once confided the main barrier to golf becoming an Olympic event was the sport's inability to make up its mind on whether joining the Olympics was a good idea or not. Only now does the game speak with one voice in its desire to be included in 2016.

While the opportunity to expand horizons is worth pursuing, it is much harder to raise enthusiasm for another professional tournament, even if medals are at stake. The IOC is not even slightly interested in hosting an amateur event, which is why the tours have been forced to crack the whip and enlist the support of their members.

Here the parallels between golf and tennis are striking. Tennis became an Olympic sport in 1988 but no-one regards Olympic tennis in same breath as the Grand Slam tournaments. Similarly in golf, the majors will always take precedence. No golfer will ever regard an Olympic gold medal with the same reverence as a sprinter, a swimmer or a rower. As Sir Steve Redgrave insisted: "The Olympics must be the ultimate event for your sport. If it's not, well, sorry, don't bother."