USA TODAY International Edition
VOTAW: GOLF DID WELL IN RIO
Ty Votaw worked eight years to get golfers to the first tee in the Summer Olympics.
It wasn’t an easy stretch of time for the vice president of the International Golf Federation and the chief marketing officer of the PGA Tour. He was one of the main pitchmen for golf, an instrumental voice in front of the International Olympic Committee. When the IOC elected in 2009 to bring golf back into the Olympics for the first time since 1904, Votaw knew his work wasn’t done.
Building the Olympic Golf Course wasn’t without challenges. Then Brazil’s economy took a nosedive, and months ahead of the 2016 Games fears of security and the Zika virus were rampant. Then some of the sport’s biggest names dropped out, including Jason Day, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy, four of the top five players in the world rankings. But the Games played on. Now Votaw and the IGF have to sell golf’s future in the Olympics. Golf will be played in the 2020 Tokyo Games. The IOC will vote next year to see if it will be played beyond that.
Before leaving Rio, Votaw talked about golf’s return and its future in the biggest sporting event in the world.
Q: What was your level of concern heading to Rio, given the withdrawals of the world’s top four players at the time and all of the talk of the Zika virus and security issues?
A: It was more a feeling of anticipation than concern. Whenever you are experiencing something for the very first time, you don’t know what to expect. From the moment we got here through the competitions, we’ve just gone from strength to strength in not only meeting expectations but exceeding them.
Q: But was it difficult in the weeks leading up to Rio?
A: The best thing about this entire process has been the collaboration of every major organization in golf, whether professional or amateur, and how they came together to make all this happen. There was a lot of work by everybody to get it done. There was a unifying spirit to get this done, and that was probably the most gratifying thing for me. … Every player had choices. While we were disappointed in some of the decisions that were made, I have to say you have to respect their personal decisions for why they didn’t attend. And at the same time you have to applaud the players for being here, because they, and their caddies, are really heroes as far as I’m concerned for making this happen.
Q: What stood out in Rio?
A: The reception of the crowds for both the men’s and the women’s competitions. And the way the men and women embraced the Olympic experience. It was phenomenal to see their interaction with other athletes, their experiences in the Olympic Village and how they responded to the crowds and the crowds responded to them in a country that doesn’t have a lot of golf history.
Q: The final of the men’s tournament, where Justin Rose beat Henrik Stenson for the gold medal on the final hole and the USA’s Matt Kuchar tied the course record with a 63 to get the bronze, pretty good script, right?
A: It was a special day. One that everybody who attended it and watched it around the world will remember. In a sense seeing something for the very first time come together in such an impressive and successful way. And I think it made everybody feel good about golf.
Q: There have been many calls for a format change to replace 72- hole stroke play. Will you be considering a format change?
A: I think we’re going to look at everything after the Olympics are over to see if there are ways to improve. As for the format, we are blessed with the opportunity to have a lot of different formats. But each has their own pluses and minuses, and we evaluated those when we made the bid and we will re- evaluate them again. There’s the fact that 72- hole stroke play is what every significant championship in golf uses to determine a champion on the men’s and women’s side, and we felt it was appropriate for this event as well. But we will look at it. We want to make sure we have the most amount of countries represented, the most amount of countries who can be competitive. And some formats eliminate the competitiveness. We want the most amount of coverage across the most amount of countries for all four days. But we will look at everything.
Q: The IOC will vote next year on golf ’s future in the Olympics beyond the 2020 Tokyo Games. What is your confidence level on golf remaining in the Olympics?
A: Golf is no different than any other sport — all the sports will be examined by the IOC going forward. The success of these two weeks in terms of what we were able to do from an attendance perspective, what we were able to do from a television audience perspective, what we were able to do from a media and social media perspective. I think the world was intrigued by golf in the Olympics, and I think our players impressed across the world in terms of how they performed and what they were able to achieve.