Rio 2016 Summer Olympics Marks Return for Golf and Rugby; Could Tiger Woods and PGA Champ McIlroy Participate?

The Summer Olympics are now set on Rio de Janeiro following an impressive preview at the London closing ceremony. The Rio Games will feature many firsts in the Olympics' history.

Rio will be the first South American country to host the Olympics, and it will feature the addition of two new sports: golf and rugby.

Golf makes its return to the Olympics after 112-year hiatus.  The sport was played at the 1900 Paris and 1904 St. Louis Olympics but was dropped after a small number of countries participated. The United States and Canada were the only countries playing for the gold medal in the St. Louis Games.

In 2009, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) voted for golf to return for both the 2016 and the 2020 Summer Olympics.

According to Bleacher Report, the International Golf Federation (IGF) stated the tournament for the Olympics will be open for both men and women with the top 15 players in the world eligible to automatically qualify based on IGF ranks. Other golfers interested in playing will be selected in a different process.

Tiger Woods was involved in the 2009 IOC presentation for golf's return and is expected to participate.

"I'll be 40 by then," said Woods during the latest British Open. "It will be something that I've never experienced. I would love to be able to have a chance to represent my country."

PGA Champion Rory McIlroy also stated the return of golf at the Olympics will benefit the sport.

Rugby will see its return in the form of "rugby sevens" after its last play at the 1924 Paris Summer Olympics. For rugby sevens, it will consist of only seven teammates instead of the traditional 15 in standard rugby games. Another difference is time, it will have only two quarters with each seven minutes.

Currently the top three rugby seven teams are New Zealand, Fiji, and England, but no word yet if these three countries will participate in the sport once 2016 begins.

The addition of gold and rugby might not go well for baseball and softball fans. Both baseball and softball were dropped from the Olympics in 2005, last appearing at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, but were given an opportunity to return for 2016. However, the IOC voted it down again in 2009. One reason IOC officials decided to temporarily ban baseball is Major League Baseball's (MLB) decision to not pause their season and let their pros participate.

Back in 2005, MLB Player Association President Donald Fehr told ESPN, "You can't shut down major league baseball, you just can't do it and nobody can reasonably expect us to. Baseball will go on just fine. It's never depended in any way, shape or form even slightly on the Olympics."

Softball veteran and Olympic gold medalist Jennie Finch also told ESPN in 2005, "It's devastating and heartbreaking, all combined, especially because the sport's at an all-time high right now. I know it's devastating for the young girls."

According to the Times Herald, the vote to add golf for the 2016 Rio Olympics is interesting as Rio doesn't have a golf course.

Additionally, the International Sailing Federation announced back in May 2012 that kitesurfing will replace windsurfing for the 2016 Rio Olympics.