The only athlete to receive more pub than Tiger Woods last summer was swimmer Michael Phelps, who captivated the country for two weeks with his record-setting performance at the Beijing Olympic Games.
In 2016, Woods will have an opportunity to shine on the world stage.
On Thursday in Berlin an executive board of International Olympic leaders recommended golf, along with rugby, for inclusion in the 2016 games. There is still some work left to be done, but golf's spot on the Olympic programme is all but guaranteed by this decision.
The official declaration of golf's fate in the Olympics will be made on Oct. 9 in Copehhagen, Denmark when the full 106-member International Olympic Committee votes to ratify Thursday's recommendation. Only a simple majority vote is required to approve both golf and rugby.
The site for the 2016 Summer Games has yet to be decided. The candidates are Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo.
If Chicago is selected, prestigious clubs like Medinah, Olympia Fields, Chicago Golf Club and the revamped Cog Hill Golf & Country Club would be presumably in the running for Olympic golf venue.
As for the world's No. 1 participating in 2016, when he'll be 40.
"If I'm not retired by then, yeah (I'd play)," Woods said Tuesday in Minnesota at the PGA Championship.
"I thik that golf is a truly global sport and I think it should have been in the Olympics a while ago," he continued. "If it does get in, I think it would be great for golf and especially some of the other smaller countries that are now emerging in golf. I think it's a great way for them to compete and play and get the exposure that some of these countries aren't getting."
In my opinion the only negative aspect of golf's Olympic bid is the format that was put forward. Olympic golf will be played as a 72-hole stroke play tournament, instead of a more attractive and exiciting match play format that would distinguish this tournament from most other major events.