Golf:Pádraig Harrington has become one of the world's leading players – including Tiger Woods – to throw their weight behind golf's latest bid to be included in the 2016 Olympic Games.
The International Golf Federation (IGF) has been lobbying for golf’s inclusion to the Olympics with Golf Hall of Fame members Jack Nicklaus and Annika Sorenstam already acting as global ambassadors on behalf of the IGF’s bid.
Yesterday a further show of solidarity among the sport’s elite saw 18 of the world’s top professionals get involved. Players like Harrington and Woods along with Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie, Ernie Els, Vijay Singh and Sergio Garcia have all signed up to the cause.
The 18 players will each send a “32-page brochure – including global data on golf participation - and personal letter reflecting their support to the International Committee members from their respective countries”.
“As we have consistently stated from the outset of the bid process, it is imperative that the best players in the world support golf’s Olympic effort in order to give us the best chance of being selected by the IOC to participate in the 2016 Olympic Games,” said Peter Dawson, R&A chief executive and IGF joint secretary.
Golf is one of seven sports being considered for inclusion, starting with the 2016 Games. The others are baseball, karate, roller sports, rugby sevens, softball and squash. The IOC's final vote on whether to add no more than two sports will take place at a meeting in Copenhagen in October, where the 2016 Games host will also be made known.
Golf was last an Olympic sport in 1904 in St Louis, USA, when the United States and Canada were the only countries competing.
18 players in support of Olympic bid:
Karrie Webb (Australia)
Mike Weir (Canada)
Camilo Villegas (Colombia)
Vijay Singh (Fiji)
Gwladys Nocera (France)
Bernhard Langer (Germany)
Colin Montgomerie (Britain)
Jeev Milkha Singh (India)
Pádraig Harrington (Ireland)
Ai Miyazato (Japan)
KJ Choi (Korea)
Lorena Ochoa (Mexico)
Suzann Pettersen (Norway)
Ernie Els (South Africa)
Sergio Garcia (Spain)
Annika Sorenstam (Sweden)
Yani Tseng (Chinese Taipei)
Tiger Woods (United States)
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