It has its doubters, but Jack Nicklaus has expressed his excitement at golf’s return to as an Olympic event.
In a little more than four years the sport will be part of the Games in Rio de Janeiro and the 18-time major champion is one of the names in the frame to design the course on which Gold will be won.
“We have one chance for golf as an Olympic sport to stay in the Olympics,” said the 72-year-old, bidding to win the $300,000 contract to design alongside Annika Sorenstam.
“We have got to put our best foot forward and we’ve got to get the best golf course. I would love that chance.
“I think the Olympics is the greatest thing that could happen to golf on an international basis because it means governments will support the game by building courses that young people have access to, and some of those young people will turn to golf in search of glory.
“All the other parts of the world, if you look at the kids when they grow up, they don’t know about The Masters or The Open. They know about a gold medal. And the gold medal is the best you can get in a sport.”
Following presentations for the vision of the golf course, the Rio 2016 organising committee has delayed the announcement of a winner until the next planning meeting in March.
The other finalists competing with Nicklaus and Sorenstam are Greg Norman and Lorena Ochoa, Gary Player Design, Tom Doak, Gil Hanse, Martin Hawtree, Robert Trent Jones Jr and the team of Peter Thomson, Karrie Webb and Ross Perrett.
For a nation of more than 200 million, Brazil has about 100 golf courses – many of which are only nine holes – and little-known Adilson da Silva is the nation’s highest-ranked player.
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