Tim Finchem, the outgoing head of the PGA Tour, believes golf’s showing at the Olympics will be sufficient to see the sport retained in the Games for the “long term”.
A wave of bad publicity, instigated in part by the refusal of a number of high‑profile players to appear in Rio, preceded golf’s Olympic return after a 112‑year absence. With the sport factored in only for the Games of 2016 and 2020, there has been a widespread view that it could be dropped from the schedule.
Yet Finchem, who was a key part of the lobby for golf’s inclusion, insisted on Tuesday that such fears are unfounded. “The question mark was having some players that didn’t want to play,” Finchem said. “But I think that, based on the reaction of some of those players afterwards having not gone, and learning about the difference between negative commentary ahead of an Olympics and reality which you see before every Olympics – nothing’s going to be ready, everything’s going to fall down, the venues can’t work etc – it’s a lesson for us in golf.
“I had an interesting conversation with Thomas Bach, the president of the IOC over there. He came to our venue on Sunday, he spent an hour and a half to two hours around the property. He was blown away. I think we were the only sport that was sold out. He was blown away by the galleries.
“Without me having to explain the situation to him, he explained to me why at the outset of our entry to the Olympics we had some hesitation. He said: ‘We’ve seen it in a few other sports.’
“Now they [the players who didn’t attend] understand the power of being an Olympian, of being able to compete on this stage, of being able to interface with these wonderful athletes from all over the globe. Just ask the players who did go. It was a game-changer in their minds.”
A decision on golf’s future is expected before the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. “We can expect mammoth galleries in Japan,” Finchem said. “We played the World Cup there in 2001, and if you just look at the footage, thousands and thousands and thousands of people came out. So it’s going to be a big event in Japan and I think golf is there for the long term. I think we’re going to be fine in the fabric of golf.
“We may want to do some tweaking in the format. It would be nice to have some more medals, in my view, but that will be something that the team will work on going forward.”
Finchem, who is to step down from his post this winter after more than 20 years in office, also revisited the issue of a global golf tour. “I still maintain that over time golf will come together,” he said. “It’s so obvious, the benefits it would generate from players and fans and media partners and sponsors. I think it will happen.”
