Jack Nicklaus: Olympic gold is worth much more

Posted: Friday 19th December 2008 | 12:20

JACK Nicklaus and Annika Sorenstam have joined a campaign aimed at getting golf admitted to the 2016 Olympics.

Jack Nicklaus is backing golf's inclusion at the 2016 Olympics
MR AMBASSADOR: Jack Nicklaus is adding his voice to the powerful lobbying team looking to secure golf a place at the 2016 Olympic Games (Getty Images)

Seven sports are bidding to be added to the programme, replacing baseball and softball, which were dropped following the 2008 Games in Beijing.

EXTERNAL LINK: FULL TRANSCRIPT OF NICKLAUS AND SOREMSTAM'S TELEPHONE PRESS CONFERENCE

Golf is facing opposition from rugby, karate, squash and roller sports while both baseball and softball are hoping to make their case for re-inclusion. A final decision will be taken at next October's IOC assembly in Copenhagen.

"Golf is a perfect match with Olympic ideals. Golf's inherent values embody the Olympic spirit of honesty, integrity, dignity and sportsmanship," said Nicklaus, an 18-time major winner.

"As I'm winding down my career, it's great that something inspires me and says: ‘Okay, hey, you're not done old man, you can still contribute to the game.'"

Tennis was admitted to the Olympics for the 1998 Games in Seoul but its place in the event has often been criticised, with leading players often treating the Games as an unfortunate distraction before the US Open, the final Grand Slam of the season

However, Nicklaus denies golfers - accustomed to the big money PGA and European Tours - would fall into the same trap.

"Money, you can take and spend but a gold medal is something you keep forever and treasure and something that you are very proud of," added Nicklaus.

"You do have a lot of world competition but to have golf be an Olympic sport being represented by every country in the world that plays the game; I think it's just truly amazing.

"It would be a thrill for golfers to have an opportunity to represent their respective countries on the world's grandest sports stage.

"It is something that I'm sure all of the athletes will have something that they will remember forever and it represents a tremendous opportunity for the growth of golf in countries where it is a developing sport.

"The Olympics would be a catalyst to ignite golf's growth and identity as an Olympic sport, and the funding it would receive from those countries would be just tremendous for the game."

Sweden's Sorenstam, widely viewed as the greatest women's golfer of all time with over $22 million in prize money and 90 professional wins, is excited about the prospect of men and women playing alongside each other at the Olympics.

"Golf has certainly changed my life. Now it's time for me to give back to the game in different ways," she said.

"I can't think of any other sport that would fit better in the Olympics for so many reasons. It's a global game and some of the values that we see in this game, it's just hard to find in any other sport."

Nicklaus and Sorenstam may attend golf's presentation to the International Olympic Committee's executive board next June, while golf is expected to send a strong lobbying team to Copenhagen, when the venue of the 2016 Olympics will also be revealed.

Players on all leading Tours are currently being canvassed on the best format for a proposed Olympic tournament, either 72-hole strokeplay or matchplay - although it is expected both men's and women's fields will be limited to 60 players, with a maximum of three per nation.