London: Australian golfing legend Greg Norman is eager for golf to become a staple part of the Olympics after Rio 2016, when it will return to the Games after an 112-year hiatus.

Norman also credited the late Seve Ballesteros for helping golf get the green light in 2009 to be included in the Games.

The sport made its debut at the second modern Olympics in Paris in 1900, but lasted only one more Games, in St Louis in 1904.

It is guaranteed to be played at the 2020 Olympics — and Norman is keen for it to become a fixture at the Olympics.

Another International Olympic Committee (IOC) vote on adding or removing sports at the Olympics is scheduled for 2017.

“I have been playing golf for 36-37 years at both amateur and the highest level. I am also involved in the game purely from a business aspect. So I would like to give a lot of the credit for this to a gentleman who is no longer with us on this planet, Severiano Ballesteros.

“In 1984-85, Seve and I were contending for the top spot in the world and we played a lot of practice rounds together as well as travelling the world. He was very passionate about the game making its way back into the Olympics.

“At that time it was Seve who came to me back then and asked if we could team up together and go to the public to try and impress upon them the importance of getting golf back into the Olympics. I agreed at that point, and it was Seve who began to steer it. He was a very passionate individual and here we are today speaking about it together in one room. So I credit Seve for that.

“I don’t think that he got enough credit. From a player’s perspective, I am happy to see that take place. Players that I have spoken to have also embraced the idea of playing in the Olympics: to win a gold medal. I wish I could and I would be champing at the bit to get going. This is always one of the things that a sportsman wants to achieve, which explains why Roger Federer wants to win a tennis gold for Switzerland. It is something which he has never been able to achieve. So that tells you the importance of representing your country in a sport that you play at the Olympics.”

Recalling the first time Ballesteros approached him and his own reaction to the suggestion about golf being played again at the Olympics, Norman added: “I think it was during the World Matchplay Championships in 1984. Seve loved the way I drove the ball and I loved his short game and during practice he told me that he knew Juan Antonio Samaranch, the former president of the IOC, well and he had already had a conversation with him. He told me that “you and I should be one together”.

“At that time I must confess that I didn’t know anything about it. I was the new kid on the block, so I didn’t have much knowledge about the Olympic movement or about the debate about whether golf included should be included in the Olympics. So I started reading up on it, trying to understand the idea. I realised then that everybody had an opinion, and so it was hard to get down to the bottom of it.

“Over the years, however, I grew passionate about the subject. I began to get involved in discussions, albeit not official ones, on how it could be a demonstration sport for Atlanta 1988. In 1996, I happened to be a prominent player and they asked me a few questions about my views and I talked about it. I must admit I did get a bit taken aback when Seve approached me, but at the time I didn’t understand his equation with Samaranch.

Norman was one among a few who had put in a bid to design the golf course in Rio for the Olympics competition, along with people like Jack Nicklaus, but his bid got rejected, with it going instead to American architect Gill Hanse.

From a business point of view the decision by the organisers to award the contract to Gill Hanse left Norman shocked. It would have been a valuable opportunity for him to establish a footprint in the South American region.

Norman said: “Yes, I am a bit upset to a degree because we put a lot of effort into it. I am passionate about the game and I put everything before it because I want to see it grow. So when we didn’t win the bid in Rio I was a bit stunned. We invested time and money into it. So the amount of money that we have invested in the company to get to where we are now is way more than what we would have got in doing the design job anyway.” Hanse and his team will be paid $300,000 (Dh1.1 million)for the design of the Olympic course, which will host a 72-hole stroke-play event for men and women with 60 players in each field. Local organisers will handle the cost of building the venue.

“It wasn’t about the money, though,” added Norman of his bid. “We did it for the love of the game. The fact is that whoever gets the contract must be able to push and promote the game within the IOC. It’s important to embrace that as much as building a course. We can all build courses because that’s our profession, but there’s a little more that goes into promoting and pushing the game.”

Norman refused to agree with the sceptics who argued that certain sports shouldn’t consider the Olympics to be their peak simply because within the parameters of that sport itself there are bigger titles and prizes to play for. “The importance is making sure that everybody realises that golf is a popular game,” argued Norman. “At least 60 million people worldwide play golf. This is a reason why it should be included in the Olympics. By that same token, I also realise that there are a few disciplines in the Olympics that shouldn’t be there in the first place. So that’s the balance that the IOC needs to work over every time they have a meeting.”

Speaking about the suggested field of players in both men’s and women’s categories for the Rio Games, Norman said: “It’s got to be a limited field. However, that’s not the only catalyst which will help promote golf. The game will be telecast at the Olympics to help promote it. Golf is already taking off in a few third world countries like the Central American market, Brazil, Peru, Chile and Argentina.

“I think that what happens with golf will be the same as tennis in the 1988 Games. All of a sudden there was a huge boost in the game’s popularity. From a public’s perspective the game will benefit hugely.”

Norman, however, warned: “If the game does not take off, then it will be a crying shame, a shame on all of us. We need golf to work in 2016. I am making a presentation to the IOC members on the importance of that in Rio. It’s crucial that we look at the long term and not just towards 2016. The game has got a negative growth rate in America. It is dead there and it has positive growth rates in parts of the world that you wouldn’t think of.’

When asked why it took golf more than a century to get back into the Olympic Games, Norman replied: “In my opinion we didn’t have one governing body. Whether the IOC likes it or not I will highlight this in my observations. The IOC wants one governing body that they can go to. That governing body must look after the sport that needs to be represented. Tragically, golf never had that sort of body. It needed to go global.”

Norman advocated that this was possibly the best time for golf to cash in as an Olympic sport.

“Look at the number of different that we have had from different countries in each tournament. Golf is finally gone back to where it should be. It has become a global sport instead of being dominated by one country. It goes to show that, no matter where you come, from the capabilities and the developed programmes that are in place give the players a chance to win.

“I have been consistent in saying this to the media for the last year I have never seen golf in a healthier state professionally. It is truly a global sport because you start seeing the diverse cross section of players who are winning. I think that’s fantastic.”