The hits keep coming for golf at the Olympics, with Dustin Johnson the latest player to withdraw from the Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro.
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World Number Three Jordan Spieth will now be the highest-ranked player in the field.
In addition to Day and McIlroy, US Open runner-up Shane Lowry has withdrawn and earlier this week Hideki Matsuyama added his name to the list. Rickie Fowler also is undecided.
Johnson is the first American golfer and the seventh player in the Official World Golf Ranking’s top 20 to back out of participating in this year’s Olympics.
Dustin Johnson, victor of back-to-back tournaments including his first career major in the 2016 U.S. Open, announced in a statement that he will not play for the United States in Brazil next month.
Johnson released a statement through one of his representatives on Friday.
“This was not an easy decision for me, but my concerns about the Zika virus can not be ignored”, said the 32-year-old.
Dustin Johnson and his wife have one son, but would like to have more children.
“While I am sure some will be critical of my decision, my hope is that most will understand and support it”. Johnson had called it a productive meeting and that he was planning to play, though he still wanted a few more answers.
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The seriousness of Zika has been downplayed, too, with the virus said to be less prevalent in the cooler Brazilian months of August and September when the Olympics and Paralympics will take place. AP material published by LongIsland.com, is done so with explicit permission. This includes the preparation of derivative works of, or the incorporation of such content into other works. Please see our terms of service for more information.
