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RIO DE JANEIRO -- The game of golf has long suffered with issues of participation and growth. The time it takes to play, the cost, the difficulty ... all are factors in the stagnant or declining numbers.Numerous initiatives have been put in place to help change the narrative, some of which might or might not succeed. How golfs participation in the Olympic Games is supposed to change anything has always been viewed with a skeptical eye.Rory McIlroy made headlines last month at The Open when he said he didnt get into golf to try and grow the game as he was explaining why he was at peace with his decision to skip the Olympics.But a lot of the discussion surrounding that has missed the point as it relates to the Olympics. When the mens Olympic tournament begins Thursday morning a few miles from the hysteria of the Olympic Village, the hope is that a new audience will be exposed to the game -- predominantly in places where an Olympic medal causes young people to dream.I think it already has helped grow the game and it will, said Henrik Stenson, the reigning Open champion, who is from Sweden. Being part of the Olympic Games, I think golf has real federations, and golf in certain countries have already been getting funds and have been starting to look at it differently.I think it already has grown the game. Us here playing is going to be viewed on the world stage, and thats going to be a different thing for the players who are now 14 and sitting back home watching this. I never saw my golfing heroes play in the Olympics, but youre going to have youngsters in different parts of the world watching us play, and they most likely are going to dream about being here one day in the future.That is the main point the International Golf Federation -- a group of leaders from various governing bodies -- has been preaching. That and the fact that being an Olympic sport will allow for funding to help nurture players.Peter Dawson, the president of the IGF, said that since 2009, when golf was given a spot in these Games, the number of worldwide golf federations has grown by more than 40, to 147.The fact that golf is in the Olympics means that the national Olympic committee of that country must have a national federation for the Olympic sport, Dawson said. Hence one is formed. Hence golf starts to move in that country. Thats what is happening. They get national backing and recognition.Dawson cited the former Eastern bloc countries as being the most noticeable ones to have set up federations.I dont think anybody can argue [against the point] that golf in the Olympics clearly is going to bring more profile, brings more funding into so many countries, said Irelands Padraig Harrington. Im a three-time major winner. If I went to the population of the world and said I was a three-time major winner, at least 90 percent of that population would not have an iota what I was [talking] about.If I went to the rest of the world and said I was an Olympic gold-medal winner, youd probably find that only 10 percent wouldnt know and it would be reverse; 90 percent would know what an Olympic gold-medal winner is. Its massive for golf in the Olympics. Its massive in so many countries.I think people who are thinking it doesnt make a difference, golf being in the Olympics, are living in a very Westernized world where golf is a big sport. But its such a small percentage of the people in the world who would recognize it. Whereas being an Olympic sport, it automatically jumps a barrier that includes it in so many state programs, state funding, which can only be good for the game. Can only be great for the game.Harrington, 45, has a unique perspective. He was part of the delegation that went to Switzerland in 2009 to lobby the International Olympic Committee for golfs inclusion in the Games. He was joined by Italys Matteo Manassero, who was 16 at the time, along with Suzann Pettersen and Michelle Wie, the only one among the foursome who did not qualify for the Games.I think in a lot of ways, golf really won when we were voted in, said Ty Votaw, vice president of the IGF and an executive with the PGA Tour. Since that time, youve seen national federations around the world increase. That wouldnt have happened if golf wasnt an Olympic sport.That growth happened over the past seven years. Thats just one example. You wouldnt have had a flag-bearer from Israel or Bangladesh or Paraguay be a golfer if we werent in the Olympics.There is also the hope that golf will grow in places such as Brazil, which has some 200 million people but only about 20,000 golfers, or .001 percent of the population. The Olympic Golf Course is just the third in the city and the first that is public.The Olympics served as an inspiration for the first public golf course in an entire country in Brazil, Votaw said. And you look at the players who withdrew, primarily fully developed golf-playing nations like South Africa, Australia, Ireland and the United States.This was never about growing the sport in those countries in a way that it could in other countries. I think there will be young people in the United States and the U.K. and Ireland and Australia who will be inspired by what they see here. And there might be additional people brought to the game. But because they are fully developed golf-playing nations, the trajectory of growth isnt going to be nearly as steep as it would be in India if Anirban Lahiri wins a bronze medal or a silver medal or a gold medal. That was the real reason. Custom Wales Soccer Jerseys . In what the team had called a retirement, Ryan said Thursday that he is resigning as chief executive of the Rangers in a move effective at the end of this month. Aaron Ramsey Wales Jersey . - The Oakland Raiders re-signed offensive lineman Khalif Barnes on Friday. http://www.soccerwalesstore.com/gareth-bale-wales-UEFA-EURO-jersey/ . How great will be revealed in the next couple of days at the board of governors meeting in Pebble Beach, Calif. Aaron Ramsey Jersey . Parker had 26 points and eight assists and San Antonio beat Toronto 112-99 Monday night. "We won that game because of Tony Parkers aggressiveness," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "His juice; his aggression all night long. Gareth Bale Wales Jersey .500 on the season. The Jets are now 0-5-1 in the second game of back-to-backs. The game started the same way the Vancouver game started the night before, with the Jets taking the first two penalties of the game and killing off the first, but the Oilers getting on the board first, scoring on the second man-advantage.Great Britain could be handed two extra bronze medals from the Beijing Olympics in 2008 after 14 Russian athletes tested positive for doping. It was revealed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) last week that 31 athletes from 12 countries, competing in six different sports, could be banned from this years Olympics in Rio after 454 doping samples from Beijing were re-tested.The tests were focused on the doping samples of those athletes who are expected to go to Rio this summer.And the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) has been notified by the IOC that 14 of the 31 athletes are Russian. Russia to criminalise doping Russia aim to make doping a criminal offence by 2017 The ROC has not identified the 14 athletes but they have been named by Russian media and they include several medallists from Beijing. There are allegedly 11 track and field athletes, two weightlifters and one rower on the list.The athletes involved still have the chance to have their B samples tested, but if the positive tests are confirmed, and their results annulled, it could see Britains bronze medal tally from Beijing rise from 15 to 17. Abakumova finished just ahead of Sayers in 2008 Maria Abakumova is allegedly one of the athletes involved after winning the silver medal in the womens javelin in China, an event in which Britains Goldie Sayers finished fourth and could now be promoted to third place.The British quartet of Andrew Steele, Robert Tobin, Michael Bingham and Martyn Rooney came fourth in the mens 4x400m relay and they could also be handed a bronze medal if allegations that Denis Alekseyev, who was a member of the bronzze-medal winning Russian team, is involved prove to be correct and he is disqualified.dddddddddddd Andrew Steele and 4x400m team-mates Robert Tobin, Michael Bingham and Martyn Rooney are in line for a Beijing bronze Tatiana Firova, who won a silver medal as part of Russias 4x400m relay squad, is another athlete allegedly under suspicion and Britains Christine Ohuruogu, Kelly Sotherton, Marilyn Okoro and Nicola Sanders could be upgraded to fourth from fifth place as a consequence.Sotherton, who won bronze in the heptathlon at the 2004 Athens Olympics, says if the medals are to be awarded to Britain it will be frustrating news for Britains performance director at the time, Dave Collins. This has touched not just athletes, but people within in the sport, she said.Our performance director in Beijing, Dave Collins, basically got sacked because he didnt reach his medal target, he only got four out of the predicted five. Kelly Sotherton has sympathised with Dave Collins after he was axed after Beijing If the other two do get medals, it would mean he should have got six and his target was five. Would he have been sacked then?Russia was suspended by the IAAF, athletics world governing body, in November after being accused of state-sponsored doping in a report commissioned by WADA.A decision on whether they will be reinstated for the Rio Olympics will be announced on June 17. Also See: 14 Russians failed tests Russia to criminalise doping Russian official says sorry IOC calls for investigation ' ' '