GOLF AND THE OLYMPICS: Philip Reidreports on the possibility of Tiger Woods and Pádraig Harrington playing for their respective countries in the 2016 Olympic Games

THE QUESTION, first and foremost, is: why? Why would golf want to join the Olympic family? After all, golf's professional tours - particularly the US Tour and the PGA European Tour, with the other main professional bodies in Asia and Australia also on board for the World Golf Championships - already have a circuit laden with greenbacks and, in the four major championships, offer the pinnacle in aspiration for the game's top players.

Yet, with places available in the list of sports for the 2016 Games - but not as soon as London in four years time - all of golf's powerhouses are colluding to make it happen. And, ultimately, it probably will. Ty Votaw, the executive vice-president of the PGA Tour in the US, has been seconded to head a high-powered committee under the guise of the International Golf Federation with the sole aim of winning a place at the Olympic table for golf.

The International Olympic Committee want golf, but not the amateur game. If golf is to find a place at the 2016 Games, it must be with the top professionals. To that end, all of the game's main professional and amateur bodies - following a world-wide survey which found 90 per cent support for pursuing a place in the Olympics - have come together to form a committee that, honestly, is a statement of intent: Votaw will oversee a committee that includes the RA's Peter Dawson; the United States Golf Association's David Fay; the Ladies PGA's Carolyn Bivens; the PGA Tour's Tim Finchem; the PGA European Tour's George O'Grady; Jim Armstrong, of Augusta National Golf Club, and the PGA of American's Joe Steranka.

As movers and shakers in the world of sport, not just golf, these men and women know how to make things happen.

It is expected that two sports will be brought in for the 2016 Olympics, and golf is up against Rugby 7s, squash, karate, roller sports, softball and baseball for one of the two spots available which will be decided at an IOC conference in Copenhagen in Denmark in October 2009. Before that, each of the international federations seeking inclusion have been asked to return questionnaires by this December and will then undergo an interview process in Lausanne, Switzerland, next April.

GOLF WASlast played in the 1904 Olympics, and failed to be added to the list of sports for the London Games after softball and baseball were dropped. The cities believed to be in the running to play host to the 2016 Games are: Chicago, Madrid, Tokyo and Rio de Janeiro.

What's different now is that the main professional bodies - but primarily the PGA Tour in the States and the European Tour - have come on board, raising the prospect that players like Tiger Woods (who, admittedly, has stayed quiet on the subject) could be available to play.

Pádraig Harrington, for one, is behind the project event, though he would be 45 years old should he get to play in 2016. "The Olympics has always been a big deal in Ireland and I'd love to be an Olympic athlete . . . and I would love to win. It'd be a big deal to me to play and I'd be very proud to do it. But it would take time to be considered as big as a major. Maybe in 50 or 100 years time, the Olympics would be (considered) the fifth major. But it wouldn't be at the moment."

If golf were to be brought on to the Olympic programme, then - every four years - it would possibly lead to a restructuring of the timetable for the major championships, at least around the time of the British Open and the US PGA, which are held in July and August respectively, traditionally the time for the Olympics.

Why would golf want to become a part of the Olympics? "I have no doubt that Olympic golf is comfortably the biggest grow-the-game opportunity that exists to help us bring golf to so many countries where it's just starting up," remarked Dawson, the secretary of the RA, who govern amateur golf - along with the USGA - around the globe.

A recent poll conducted by the IGF found over 90 per cent of the respondents either strongly supported golf's inclusion in future Olympics and among the reasons cited were increased exposure for golf, more government support, and increased funding both from governments and from Olympic participation.

"The problem that the International Golf Federation has had in the past is that it does not represent in any way the professional game, and it's been made very clear to us on several occasions by the IOC that if golf is to be in the Olympics, then it has to be for the top players in the world. Golf will not get into the Olympics if it's to be for amateurs. That's been made clear to us many times," added Dawson.

The result has been the formation of this high-powered committee bringing together representatives of the professional game for both men and women, representatives of the major championships and also representatives of golf's rule-makers.

TIM FINCHEM, the commissioner of the PGA Tour, is, quite possibly, the biggest powerbroker in international golf. He has put his full weight behind the bid. Why? "One, including golf in the Olympic programme is a plus for the stature of the game and a recognition of the globality of the game and, secondly, the incredible impact it could potentially have on growing the game around the world, particularly in areas that are fledgling in their current development of the game."

The secondment of Votaw from the PGA Tour to act as executive director of the IGF Olympic committee is a statement in itself. He is very highly regarded in the golf world, among administrators and players alike. Votaw previously worked with the LPGA before joining the PGA Tour. "He's the right guy for the job," said Finchem.

In making his case for golf's inclusion in the 2016 Olympics, Votaw argued: "The time is right to reinstate golf as an Olympic sport and to the Olympic programme (but) we have a lot of work ahead (before) the IOC makes its decision, (in) October of 2009. The reasons why golf and the Olympics, I think, are a perfect match (is) its globality, the number of countries it's played in, the number of countries that have an ability to win a medal in the Olympics, the worldwide commercial appeal of the sport, as well as all of the other values, (mainly) integrity, matching up so well with the Olympic ideal."

The format being planned for golf at the Olympics is, according to Dawson, "still a work in progress . . . we have to come up with a formula which attracts the leading players of the world, also allows players from a wide variety of countries to compete, and also recognises the IOC's policy on a limitation on athlete numbers. There are a number of possible permutations, and that's really one of our big tasks in the coming months is just to decide which format to go with."

Of the failed previous bid, Dawson remarked: "Golf was not really speaking with one voice at the time, and also we we're not anywhere near as advanced as we are now with our anti-doping policies and so on. We're in much better position this time."