ANNIKA AND JACK GO TO BAT FOR GOLF

It's a good thing when you can throw around lobbyists who don't need to use their last names.

So it is for the International Golf Federation, which is trying to elbow its way onto the Olympic stage by signing up Annika Sorenstam and Jack Nicklaus as global ambassadors.

Arguably the greatest golfers ever on both the male and female sides of the equation, Jack and Annika will be tremendous lobbyists for the sport, which faces something of an uphill battle to get onto the Olympic calendar. But Sorenstam just retired, so at least she's got time on her hands when she's not designing golf courses. Ditto for Nicklaus.

"Golf truly embodies the Olympic spirit with a foundation built upon honour, integrity, dignity and sportsmanship," Nicklaus said in a statement.

Apparently, that doesn't include Stevie Williams, Tiger Woods caddy, but there you go.

Sorenstam said she's honoured and privileged to have a role in getting golf into the Olympics.

"A major objective of mine is to help grow the game around the world, and I can think of no better way to grow it than through the Olympics."

Several sports have been lobbying members of the International Olympic Committee (gee, you think they like the attention?) to try to get into the Olympics.

The IOC voted a couple years back to dump softball and baseball. Both are trying hard to get back into the Games, with softball having the best shot given the seeming fall of American dominance at the Beijing Summer Olympics.

That would leave golf, baseball, squash, rugby sevens, roller sports (be serious, please) and karate as the main contenders for Olympic status. The IOC will meet in Copenhagen next October and appears likely to vote on including two "new" sports on the Olympic program for 2016.

The IOC consistently has said it doesn't want to include any sport that won't send its biggest names. If golf really wants to elbow its way onto the Olympic dance floor, it will need more than Annika and Jack. They'll need a Tiger.