FOLLOWING A 112-YEAR ABSENCE FROM THE OLYMPICS,
THE REINTRODUCTION OF GOLF AT THE 2016 GAMES IN RIO
REIGNITED INTERNATIONAL INTEREST IN THE SPORT. PHOTOS: PGA TOUR IMAGES
THERE ARE STILL MANY PEOPLE WHO THINK OF GOLF—AND, BY EXTENSION,
professional golf—as a game played almost exclusively by Caucasian men in
Sansabelt slacks. But the PGA TOUR currently has 93 international players
representing 28 countries and territories who comprise 36% of its member-
ship. For comparison’s sake, the NBA’s international players comprise 24% of
the league, and the MLB’s, 21%.The current 2019–20 PGA TOUR season opened with wins by Joaquín Niemann of Chile; Sebastián
Muñoz of Colombia; Cameron Champ, a biracial American; and Kevin Na, a naturalized American citizen
born in Seoul. This ever-growing diversity has been achieved through several factors, including the
three international developmental tours—the PGA TOUR Latinoamérica, PGA TOUR Series-China, and
the Mackenzie Tour–PGA TOUR Canada—which function as pathways to the Korn Ferry Tour, itself the
gateway to the PGA TOUR proper. Another contributing factor is the biennial Presidents Cup, which pits
the U.S. team against the international team. (This year’s incarnation is being held in December
in Melbourne).
Golf’s return to the Olympics, announced a decade ago and reintroduced at the 2016 Summer
Games in Brazil after a 112-year absence, has also helped seed international pros. However, Olympic
golf has had its skeptics. Detractors argued that golf already had suffi cient exposure internationally
and that little would be gained by its inclusion on the international stage. But if you consider that the
gold medal round of the men’s event, won by England’s Justin Rose, was the most-watched golf tele-
cast in the history of the golf-mad U.K., the lure of Olympic glory has led many countries to get serious
about establishing roots in the sport by competing, and ultimately winning medals, in the Games.
“When we got golf back in the Olympics,
the International Golf Federation had just over
100 national golf federations worldwide,”
says Ty Votaw, the TOUR’s Executive Vice
President of Global Business Affairs, who
also serves as Vice President of the Interna-
tional Golf Federation. “Today we have 150.”Broadening the Fan Base
The increasing diversity represented by play-
ers comprising the PGA TOUR is a notable
development, and it’s also good for business.CONTENT FROM THE PGA TOUR
ON THE PGA TOUR, INCLUSION HAS BECOME
THE NAME OF THE GAME.
The Drive for Diversity