brazil Is This the Inevitable?

The greatest male and female golfers who ever lived, Jack Nicklaus and Annika Sorenstam, have formally petitioned to co-design the golf venue for Brazil’s Olympic games in 2016.

The ying and yang of their pairing may be irresistible to the International Golf Federation, which has so far received expressions of interest from about a dozen design firms but none with such zing.

Nicklaus, who discussed the project with reporters during the Memorial Tournament last spring, said a site for the course has been identified, presumably somewhere in suburban Rio de Janiero. He said, “I think this is a very functional partnership” and “I’ll be surprised if they don’t select us.”

Various reports say that the IGF won’t name a designer until it finds an executive director, which may not happen until the end of 2010. Ty Votaw, the PGA Tour’s P.R. man, is running the group for the time being.

Don’t expect the designer, whoever he or she may be, to cut any corners, because Brazil’s deep-pocketed Olympic committee is going to foot the bill for the construction costs.

InternationalGolfFederation.org