Former Olympics guru is new International Golf Federation chief

FORMER Olympics guru Anthony Scanlon has been appointed as the new executive director of the International Golf Federation with a view to leading the sport back onto the Olympic programme.

HAPPY MAN: PGA TOUR executive Ty Votaw is pleased with the appointment of Anthony Scanlon at the IGF

Previously he has worked closely with the respective organising committees for Sydney 2000, Salt Lake City 2002 and Athens 2004 and has been earmarked as the man to ensure golf's return to the Olympics at Rio 2016 - after a 112-year absence - is a smooth one.

"We are absolutely delighted to have found someone in Antony Scanlon who is eminently qualified to lead golf's re-introduction as an Olympic sport," said PGA TOUR executive Ty Votaw, who coordinated golf's Olympic bid on behalf of the IGF with the R&A's Peter Dawson.

"Antony's extensive background and intimate knowledge of not only working for the IOC, but also with various Olympic organising committees, including the Rio 2016 Organising Committee, made him an ideal candidate to assume the responsibilities that go along with preparing golf for the 2016 Games."

Dawson, joint secretary of the IGF, said: "Antony Scanlon has a wealth of Olympic experience. His skills and contacts will provide the IGF with a strong foundation upon which to build golf as an Olympic sport.

"We are truly fortunate to have found an executive of Antony's calibre."

While the IGF successfully lobbied for golf's reintroduction to the Olympic schedule, the organisation plays a relative minor role in the administration of the sport.

The role of overall governing body is shared by the United States Golf Association and the R&A while the various PGAs share the responsibility of overseeing professional golf.

The IGF will however play a major role when it comes to Olympic golf as it is the sport's only global organisation and as a result the only body recognised by the IOC as golf's representative.