Harrington, Pettersen to Appear at Final Presentation for Olympic Golf

COPENHAGEN, Denmark -- Padraig Harrington of Ireland, Suzann Pettersen of Norway, Michelle Wie of the United States and 16-year-old British Amateur Champion Matteo Manassero of Italy will participate in the final presentation before the International Olympic Committee membership on Friday.

The four golfers will join Ty Votaw, Executive Director of the International Golf Foundation's Olympic Golf Committee, which has coordinated golf's Olympic bid, and Peter Dawson, chief executive of the R&A and joint secretary of the IGF.

Golf and rugby sevens, the two sports recommended for the 2016 Olympic Program by the IOC Executive Board, will present their final case to the full IOC membership before it votes that same day on whether to accept one, both or neither sport.

"We have demonstrated to the IOC Executive Board throughout the evaluation process that golf's bid to become an Olympic sport has received unprecedented support from both amateur and professional golf organisations around the world and leading international players," Votaw said. "Now, we must reaffirm this support before the full IOC membership and we couldn't be more pleased than to have Padraig, Suzann, Matteo and Michelle help to communicate this support during our final presentation."

In June, when the IGF presented to the IOC Executive Board in Lausanne, Switzerland, Votaw and Dawson were joined by Global Ambassador Annika Sorenstam, 2010 European Ryder Cup Captain Colin Montgomerie, PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem and LPGA of Japan President and World Golf Hall of Fame member Hisako "Chako" Higuchi.

Leading up to Friday's vote, golf and rugby sevens emerged from a year-long evaluation that included formal presentations by seven candidate sports, the submission of a Detailed Questionnaire and responses to questions raised by both the IOC Program Commission and the IOC Executive Board. The IOC Executive Board announced its recommendation of golf and rugby sevens following a meeting in Berlin, Germany on Aug. 13.

On Oct. 2, the IOC selected Rio de Janeiro as the host city for the 2016 Olympic Games.

The IGF was founded in 1958 to encourage the international development of the game and to employ golf as a vehicle to foster friendship and sportsmanship. Recognized by the IOC as the official international federation for golf, the IGF is comprised of 123 Federations from 118 countries.

The IGF created the IGF Olympic Golf Committee to drive its effort for the sport's inclusion in the 2016 Games. Organizations represented on the committee are the R&A; European Tour; USGA; PGA of America; PGA Tour; LPGA; the Masters Tournament; Asian Tour; Australian LPGA; Canadian Professional Golf Tour; Japan Golf Tour Organization; LPGA of Japan; Korea LPGA; Korean PGA; Ladies European Tour; Ladies Asian Golf Tour; PGA Tour of Australasia; Sunshine Tour and Tour de las Americas.