American Jordan Spieth says withdrawing from the Olympics was the “hardest decision I’ve had to make in my life”.
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“It will loom over me throughout the Olympic Games, for sure”.
McIlroy wasn’t the only player this week to offer a less-than-glowing endorsement of golf’s first appearance in the Games since 1904.
“I’m very happy with the decision I made and I’ve no regrets about it. I’ll probably watch the Olympics but I’m not sure golf will be one of the events I watch”.
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.
Johnson has questioned the inclusion of golf, football and basketball in the Olympics, claiming that the Games are less important to those sports than other events such as Majors in golf, the World Cup in football and the National Basketball Association (NBA) league for basketball. All of a sudden you get to this point and there is a responsibility on you to grow the game and I get that.
“The Olympians can look forward to living in an outstanding Olympic Village and competing in absolutely stunning venues”, El Moutawakel said in statement.
Second-ranked Dustin Johnson, the U.S. Open champion, did likewise Friday, while other high-profile golfers to withdraw from the Rio Games include Adam Scott and Marc Leishman of Australia, South Africans Branden Grace, Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel and Fiji’s former world No. 1 Vijay Singh.
Spieth, the last of the top four to pull out of the Games, cited “health concerns” including – but not exclusively – the threat of the Zika virus for his absence. I’ll probably watch the Olympics. “I bounced back and forth with it and ultimately a decision had to be made yesterday”. Spieth, in contrast to McIlroy, gushed about the merits of golf in the Olympics. “Mine came down to just a very personal decision that, again, I don’t expect everybody to understand, but trust that I believe I’m making the right decision for myself for my future and for those around me”.
“I’m not specifically pinpointing any one thing in my health concerns”, he said, referring to the mosquito-borne virus that the World Health Organisation says is spreading rapidly in the Americas. “This year I just had to try and weigh a risk that doesn’t present itself every year”.
The two SA female players will be Paulo Reto and Ashleigh Simon, who were 36th and 41st on the Olympic women’s list, and the overall SA golf team will be captained by Gary Player.
Spieth, one of the favorites this week to win the Claret Jug, said he’ll make it a goal to be on the USA squad in the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo.
“Probably the first time I’ve been compared to the Beatles”, he said, managing only the hint of a smile.
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Britain’s athletes won six medals at London 2012, including four golds, and – after a team missing the likes of Farah and Ennis-Hill returned from the Europeans with 16 medals, including five victories – they will be hoping for an even greater haul this time around, with the pressure on the relay teams to deliver, which did not happen in London.
