TROON, Scotland (AP) – Jordan Spieth withdrew from the Olympics on Monday, leaving golf without its top four players when the sport returns to the games for the first time since 1904.
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Under the qualification rules, the United States men’s team will have four representatives, because all are ranked in the top 15 in the world, while no other nation will have more than two.
The women’s list of 60, by comparison, features all the top-10 players. Only South Africa’s Lee-Anne Pace has pulled out.
There’s the spread of the Zika virus, the struggles of Brazil’s economy, longstanding political unrest among Brazilian citizens, unfinished Olympic venues, and sewage in the bay that runs along Rio’s famed beaches.
Despite lingering concerns, Mr. Roberts said he was confident attention would shift to the competitions as soon as the Games begin.
He cited a study by Cambridge University that concluded there was only a very low chance that any of the expected 500,000 foreign tourists would get the virus, which was detected in Brazil past year.
But Rio 2016 president Carlos Nuzman exuded confidence about the city’s preparedness and said: “We are obviously very proud that we are ready to welcome the world and we can also see the transformation of Rio everywhere we go”.
Masters champion Danny Willett says he’s “willing to take that little bit of risk” and play at the Olympics because the likelihood of contracting the Zika virus is lessening every day. “It’s the most exciting sporting event for me to watch on TV and to have a chance to be a part of it is something I definitely look forward to trying to do”. I might. It’ll kind of be like a game-time decision whether or not I do it.
“They play most weeks of the year not at major championships, so they’re not exclusively playing in majors”, the former R&A chief executive added.
Spieth was the last of the Big Four to make his decision, announcing it Monday after Jason Day, Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy withdrew from Olympic consideration. The women will have the top nine in the world; Ha-Na Jang at No. 10 is not eligible because South Korea already reached its maximum of four players.
Spieth’s withdrawal means the U.S. team will now be represented by Bubba Watson, Rickie Fowler, Patrick Reed and Matt Kuchar. Two-time Masters champion Watson can not have children with his wife – they have adopted a son and daughter.
“They’re certainly strong golfing countries, no question about that”.
Rio de Janeiro (dpa) – Rio de Janeiro is ready for the Olympics, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said Monday in a show of support for a Games that could use one.
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With no fewer than 40 countries included in the Final Rankings across the men’s and women’s competitions, to be played at Reserva de Marapendi Golf Course between August 11 and 20, the composition of the Olympic fields will highlight the broad global diversity of the sport in Rio de Janeiro. These games will introduce two new sports into their fold: rugby sevens, which is basically rugby with 7 players instead of 15 like usual; and golf, which.ok let’s be honest, the golf format for the Olympics suck.
