“I think Zach Johnson really did sum it up, and I wish they would all come out and say that’s the real reason that they’re not going, instead of using another excuse”, added Redgrave. This year I just had to try and weigh a risk that doesn’t present itself every year.
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But, Spieth said, “Nobody’s going to understand what it’s like to be in my shoes”.
“This is going to be a very, very hard thing for me to watch the opening ceremonies and watch my peers compete for a gold medal or any medal, and watch people stand on the (podium) and hear the national anthem playing”.
McIlroy won the 2014 British Open but missed last year’s with an ankle injury.
That didn’t stop him from following his instincts.
Spieth faced a deadline for his decision because the competitors from various countries were decided on Monday. “I certainly hope they vote to keep it, because I believe it can be very beneficial for the game and I would love to be a part of benefiting the game with it”.
“I’ll watch the Olympics, but probably not golf”, the 27-year-old said.
Each of the top four players in the world and seven of the top 15 men are out, including Jason Day, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy. However, many players have cited concerns over Zika, a mosquito-borne virus which has been linked to defects in newborn babies and Guillain-Barre, a rare neurological syndrome which causes temporary paralysis in adults.
His views appear to have been echoed by McIlroy, who refuted suggestions that he had let the sport down after International Golf Federation (IGF) President Peter Dawson claimed the withdrawals “has not put golf in a good light”.
“You’ve got more chance of getting malaria in South Africa than you have in getting Zika when you go to Rio”, Willett said. Fowler, he said, texted back: “No worries. I’ve gotten to know a lot of athletes over the years and whether it’s coming to their houses and doing blood and urine (tests), I think drug-testing in golf is still quite far behind”. “That’s what he said”. McIlroy said he was “not sure” whether he would watch golf’s return after a 112-year absence.
Spieth’s spot went to Matt Kuchar, who only moved to No. 15 in the world ranking by making a 12-foot birdie on the final hole of a World Golf Championship in OH two weeks ago. As it fights for exposure in the shadows cast by the male superstars, the Olympic stage is plainly a huge opportunity for the women golfers.
“On average, we get tested four or five times a year. I’m going to win more times than not”. And when it was over, as he pushed back from the table, he said quietly with a smile, “Do we have a tournament this week?” Yet the primary topic of conversation Tuesday at the iconic Open venue on the Ayrshire Coast was not the Claret Jug or who might hoist it Sunday evening. But even Spieth knows that won’t happen.
However, in order to do so he said it has to improve a doping policy which has seen him tested just three or four times in 2016.
“It will loom over me throughout the Olympic games, for sure”, he said. I’m sure at times I’ll be pretty upset that I’m not down there.
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“But I feel like with the things that I’m working on in my swing, hopefully that will get me to that point, and hopefully it’s this week where I start to trust myself more with my swing, and I trust the shots that I’m trying to hit and trust that more times than not, I can pull them off”.
