Woods: Olympics must be played on public course
Tiger Woods might design only private golf courses*, but he doesn't believe that exclusive country clubs are appropriate venues for Olympic golf.
"I think you would have to have it on a public venue," Woods said. "I don't think you could have it at a country club. I think you'd have to have it at a public venue just because of what the nature of the Olympics is all about."
Woods was asked about the Olympics during a media conference at Cog Hill golf course outside Chicago, site of this week's BMW Championship. The question was salient because Chicago is a finalist to host the 2016 Olympics (along with Madrid, Rio and Tokyo) and Cog Hill is a public-access golf course. In August, golf received preliminary approval to join the 2016 Olympic Games.
Woods, who will be 40 in 2016, is almost certain to compete in those games, and if the Olympics are in Chicago -- a mecca of public-access golf -- he knows where he'd like to play.
"Certainly this golf course [Cog Hill] is stand-alone in public venues here in the Chicago area," Woods said. "I don't know another golf course that could rival this one as far as difficulty, a public course."
* Woods' first three golf courses will be private tracks in Dubai, Mexico and North Carolina, but he has said that he's committed to designing public-access courses in the future.
