But Northern Ireland’s McIlroy was less apologetic, saying he may watch “track and field, swimming, diving, the stuff that matters” but perhaps not the golf.
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Rory McIlroy sounded off on the Olympics on Tuesday in a honest interview that was refreshing to see.
Jordan Spieth of the United States is among the top golfers who have pulled out of this year’s Olympic Games.
Rory McIlroy admitted it was nice to talk about golf rather than the Olympics after his opening round in the Open, but was not about to change his opinion on the subject.
MOSCOW: Long jumper Darya Klishina, the only Russian athlete cleared to compete in this summer’s Olympic Games in Rio, says she does not feel a traitor.
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”. I got into golf to win.
While the move was an effort to clean the sport up, the comments will also lead to speculation that golfers are using performance-enhancing drugs, especially in the wake of so many top golfers electing to not play in the Rio Olympics. But at the same time that’s not the reason that I got into golf.
“I think it’s likely that, at the end of his career, he’ll regret that moment more than any other moment in the history of his career”, Chamblee said.
The multiple major victor described it as “probably the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make in my life at 22 years old. I literally bounced back and forth with it, and ultimately I have to come up with a decision and so I made it”.
But Rose, whose words were echoed by reigning Masters champion Danny Willett, said: “I think the Zika risk is going to be one of those things that we look back at and think it’s a non-event, hopefully”. I’ve been very fortunate to do what I’ve done in golf and I feel like I’ve used that success in a positive way.
“It’s frustrating”, said Massaro, a former world number one.
“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”.
“We have to respect the individual decisions, even if they are going contrary to the recommendations given by the World Health Organization, if Zika is given as a reason”, Bach said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press and two other worldwide news agencies.
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Golf’s leading male stars have “let down the rest of the sport very badly” with their withdrawal from the Olympics, according to Ladies European Tour chief executive Ivan Khodabakhsh.
