No Golf Allowed (PGA)

In a year in which Tiger Woods is down for the count, 2008 probably will not be the year of golf. People are already more interested in what Tiger did before his surgery (partied) than they are about Corey Pavin’s hot start at the Buick (if you know whether this weekend is the Buick Open or the Buick Invitational, then you are probably the kind of golf fan that will follow PGA regardless if Tiger Woods is playing or not).

2008 in golf will be known as the year Tiger wasn’t there.

2008 in the world will be remembered for something much grander: the Beijing Olympics.

But aside from its three-day overlap with the PGA Championship, as it has been since 1904, the Olympics will be a golf-free zone.

Here is a sampling of some sports that will crown champions at the Olympics, though: archery, canoeing, shooting, ping-pong, trampolining, synchronized swimming, sailing, and badminton.

So, you know, all of the free world’s most adored activities.

Popular or not, these niche sports, played in the nooks, crannies and outposts of the world, get to crown their best on the world’s biggest stage.

Meanwhile, golf, one of the world’s worldliest sports, is on the outside looking in when it comes to the earth’s grandest sports spectacle.

Why?

Golf is beautiful, challenging and hugely rewarding (just ask the, at minimum, 10 people you know who spend thousands of dollars a year on it). It is also one of the world’s most played sports. Like tennis, track and soccer, it is a truly international interest.

Golf also embodies nearly all of the principles and attributes that make a sport a compelling Olympic one.

Few sports require such a demanding mix of mental toughness, extraordinary athletic ability and a willingness to take risks.

Perhaps most compelling of all the reasons to add golf, however, is its wide-ranging and ever-growing international appeal and reach.

Disparate and distant countries from Fiji (Vijay Singh) to South Korea (K.J. Choi) to Argentina (Angel Cabrera) to South Africa (Retief Goosen, amongst others) all have world-class athletes capable of taking home a gold medal. Golf at the Olympics would not just be a victory lap for the United States and Europe.

The benefits it would supply to the game of golf would be even greater. Aside from the inevitable popularity boost it would give, it would provide a de-facto world championship for a sport that’s lacking one.

It would also finally be a major event to look forward to besides the four major tournaments and the Ryder Cup.

Few sports have as few big time events as golf, and none have fewer on an international stage. Any new one would surely be a boon.

Further still, PGA commissioner Tim Finchem is fully on board (at least he blogged as much earlier this year), as are the LPGA and European Tour (according to Finchem).

Finchem even went as far as to say the PGA would be willing to change “fully developed and longstanding schedules.”

Now the Olympic powers that be are meeting next year to officially consider adding golf for 2016.

I’ll give the IOC one piece of advice: don’t make Tiger angry. It hasn’t worked for anyone else.

–Patrick Daugherty, RED Editorial Staff.