Paddy and the Olympics

CHASKA, Minn. – Padraig Harrington is an optimist. At the least he’s open-minded.

After opening the PGA Championship with 68, the Irishman reacted to the news that golf will be an Olympic sport in 2016 with these sentences: “In 100 years time, the Olympics could be the fifth major. ... In time it could become the premier event in golf.”

I am going to make a futures bet with Ladbrokes that Olympic golf will not be the game’s No. 1 event in 2109. I am leaving the betting slip in my will for my great-great-grandchildren.