What Jack Nicklaus predicted would happen to professional golf once it became an Olympic sport again in 2016

Jack Nicklaus is the greatest player to have ever graced the game.

Some may argue in favour of Tiger Woods but what cannot be debated is that Nicklaus possesses the best record in the majors.

The 85-year-old’s record of 18 wins and 19 runner-up finishes in the game’s four biggest tournaments tells its own story.

The ‘Golden Bear’ as he is affectionately known, made his name due to his fierce competitive nature and sheer brilliance on the golf course.

However, he was a real gentleman as well, Nicklaus will always be remembered for giving Tony Jacklin his putt at the Ryder Cup on the final green way back in 1969.

The 18-time major champion recently explained his thinking behind that decision.

“That’s the year I conceded a short putt to Tony Jacklin on 18 in the final singles pairing that meant a halved match, and the first tie in Ryder Cup history.

“It wasn’t premeditated or orchestrated. It was just the right thing to do. Just two months earlier, Tony had become the first British player to win The Open Championship in 18 years.

“He was Britain’s hero. As I told Tony on the 18th green, I didn’t think he would have missed that putt, but I wasn’t going to give him the chance.

“No one wants the outcome of a three-day goodwill match to hinge on one player possibly missing one short putt. Every Ryder Cup captain I have asked since has agreed it was the right decision.”

The American always was, and still is, a great ambassador for the game of golf.

It’s such a shame that golf wasn’t an Olympic sport throughout Nicklaus’s long and highly-decorated career.

What Jack Nicklaus predicted would happen to professional golf once it became an Olympic sport again in 2016

Nicklaus has always been a real visionary when it comes to the game of golf.

And that was no different nine years ago when he made a prediction about the impact that the Olympics would have on the game of golf globally.

Back in 2016 ahead of the Olympics in Brazil, Nicklaus spoke about how the game of golf could be affected by some of the huge countries partaking in the games.

Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images
He said: “Think about what the Olympics will do for the growth of the game of golf in countries such as Brazil, who has 700 million people, China who have a billion, India about a billion, Russia.

“All these places the government will support sport. They will fund it and finance it.

“Look what the Russians have done with tennis for the women. Look what the Chinese have done in the Olympics with every sport. Imagine what they will do with golfers.

“So the game of golf will have a tremendous explosion outside of the United States because of the Olympics and if we can keep golf in the Olympics and have a good showing in 2016, then the game of golf will explode around the world.

“The United States it will not make a big difference, Great Britain is a mature market, Japan is. But the rest of the world it is not.“

Nicklaus is spot on. Since 2016, golf has boomed in Brazil and China, with the sport becoming more accessible to everyone and extra funds being pumped in at grassroots level.

Since 2016, the amount of golfers worldwide has increased from 29.6 million to 39.6 million in 2023 (Accounting Fore You).

That figure would have undoubtedly risen significantly since then as well.

History of golf in the Olympics

Golf has featured in the Olympics five times for men, and four for the women.

There have been some hugely exciting recent tournaments, including last year’s exceptional competition in Paris when Scottie Scheffler produced a sparkling final round of nine-under par 62 to beat England’s Tommy Fleetwood by one stroke.

Here is a list of the winners of the event during the five times golf has been played at the Olympics since 1900:

Year
Venue
Men’s winner
Women’s winner

2024
Paris
Scottie Scheffler
Lydia Ko

2020
Tokyo
Xander Schauffle
Nelly Korda

2016
Rio de Janeiro
Justin Rose
Inbee Park

1904
St. Louis
George Lyon (Canada)
Not included in the Olympics

1900
Paris
Charles Sands (USA)
Margaret Abbott

The next two Olympics are in Los Angeles and Brisbane, Australia.

With golf’s popularity continuing to boom, the events at those two venues should be incredibly exciting to watch.

As Nicklaus said golf’s inclusion as an Olympic sport again over the last nine years has been great for the game.