WORLD GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP:TIGER WOODS believes the inclusion of golf at the Olympics could help China become a golfing powerhouse sooner rather than later.
China’s state system is heavily geared towards Olympic success and last month’s vote to include the sport in the Games will have huge implications on the funding of golf in the world’s most populous country.
Woods said smaller countries like Sweden had shown what could be achieved with government funding, let alone what might happen if China backed golf with the considerable resources it commits to other Olympic sports.
“China has done pretty much the same thing in every other sport, except for golf,” the world number one told reporters at the HSBC Champions.
“It will be interesting to see what will happen if they make a push towards that, and if they do then there’s no question they will become a powerhouse in golf. With the populous and with the amount of golf courses being constructed, the game is obviously exploding over here. So it is just a matter of time.”
Woods is making his third appearance at the €4.8 million Champions tournament having finished second twice at the Sheshan International Golf Club.
This year the tournament becomes Asia’s first World Golf Championship (WGC) event, a series in which Woods has an impressive record of 16 wins in 30 attempts.
“I’ve always enjoyed playing against such great fields,” said the American. “That’s the whole idea of having the World Golf Championships. It’s not just the major championships that we all get together, and The Players (Championship).
“It’s now these World Golf Championships events.
“It’s a lot of fun for players to compete against these guys. For some reason, I’ve also had a lot of success.”
Woods insists compulsory drug testing is essential to ensure a clean sport in the wake of the one-year ban handed out to American journeyman Doug Barron.
The PGA Tour announced earlier this week that Barron had violated the anti-doping policy on the use of performance-enhancing substances, becoming the first player to be banned after golf introduced testing in June last year.
The European Tour have insisted there have been no failures in Europe, with the anti-doping programme continuing at this week’s event in Shanghai.
“I heard about it [Barron’s ban] today. It’s unfortunate, but that is one of the reasons why we have the policy to make sure no one does anything that’s improper for the game of golf and I think that it is great that we have the policy in place,” said Woods.
“I don’t know if he tested for performance-enhancing or recreational, but the whole idea is to keep our sport clean and that is why we created the policy and it has been executed and unfortunately one player didn’t obey the policy.”
Further details of Barron’s case have not been announced. The 40-year-old, who has never won in 238 appearances on the PGA Tour, has apologised but insisted he never intend to gain an unfair advantage.
Barron was playing on the Nationwide Tour this year on a medial exemption and is known to have taken medication in the past for several conditions.
Woods will play alongside Asia number one Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand and Briton Ross Fisher, a winner at the World Matchplay last week, in the first two rounds.
