“I don’t think it was as hard a decision for me as it was for him”, the Northern Irishman told a news conference ahead of the 145th British Open that starts tomorrow night. At least 14 others have made the same decision, and many have cited concerns over the Zika virus as a reason.
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Asked what would top his viewing schedule, he added: “Probably the events like track and field, swimming, diving – the stuff that matters”.
Day, Johnson and McIlroy pulled out because of the threat from the Zika outbreak in the Americas while Spieth opted not to go to Rio for more general health reasons.
“I don’t feel like I’ve let the game down at all”, McIlroy said. I get that I have a responsibility to the game.
“But I really think there’s enough on Rory’s plate trying to win a Major championship this week”.
The world number four told BBC Radio Five Live: “I think golf in the Olympics is great for golf, it’s great to grow the game, there is no question about that”.
“Britain has a fantastic tradition in the sport and I know the team are excited to be part of a new experience for this generation of golfers”, said Team GB’s Chef de Mission Mark England. “I haven’t been blood-tested yet”.
LONDON (AP) The absence of numerous top men from the Olympic golf tournament in Rio de Janeiro will be taken into account in evaluating the sport’s future in the games, IOC President Thomas Bach said Wednesday.
The Northern Irishman has also said he does not feel a responsibility to help grow golf’s worldwide profile, which was one of the prime motivating factors in the sport’s push for Olympic inclusion.
“I think his comments are unacceptable, it think it’s a lack of appreciation for how the Olympics can just transcend an individual sport”. “So for me, it’s an wonderful sporting event that I get to be inside the ropes at”.
“But, again, I don’t really know of any drug that can give you an advantage all the way across the board in our sport”. “There are obviously drugs that can make you stronger. and drugs that can help your concentration”.
Another move, albeit a drastic one, for golf to work is to make the Olympics only for amateurs. Golf, meanwhile, in the Olympics is either right on top of either the British Open or the PGA Championship.
The four-time major champion McIlroy, in contrast, said he will feel no such pangs.
He says he never “aspired to” compete, while former world squash champion Massaro insists her sport would consider the Olympics as its pinnacle.
The last stop of our tour is Rory’s very own locker, where we find a huge stack of golf balls, two The Open mugs and a huge gold plated watch. “I certainly have thought about all that and it’s something I’ve looked forward to since 2009 when it was announced”. And American Dustin Johnson is the +739 favourite on Sports Interaction golf odds.
On the women’s side, there has only been one high-profile withdrawal, the South African Lee-Anne Pace.
“Will it fit in?”
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Bach said the Olympic tournament would be judged along with other sports. Those sports should be at the forefront, wrestling, all those sports that just don’t get the recognition the mainstream sports get.
