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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. 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His last three free throws broke a 69-69 tie with 3 seconds left and VMI was unable to get the ball down court for a final shot before the buzzer.T.J. Cline had 15 ppoints for Richmond, which shot 47 percent from the field (23-49) and had 14 turnovers.ddddddddddddVMI twice tied it up in the final 89 seconds, knotting it at 66 with QJ Petersons layup and then at 69 with 14 seconds left on Fred Iruafemis free throw.Julian Eleby led the Keydets with 29 points and Peterson finished with 18. ' ' '