Cinesport also asked me about the Royal Troon course and who I think will win the 145th Open Championship.
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Northern Ireland’s world number four added: “I have been tested once for drugs this year, the day before the US Open”.
Dawson and other leading names in golf have spoken of using Rio to help grow the sport globally, but McIlroy, a four-time major victor, sees things differently.
Golf’s long-awaited return to the Olympic Games has endured its share of jabs and uppercuts.
On Monday, Jordan Spieth became the latest golfing superstar to pull out of going to Brazil, meaning six of the world’s top 10 will not be there. He missed last year’s competition after injuring his ankle playing soccer. The actual truth and not the narrative that many want to hear or that many want the public to hear.
Spieth’s loss to the Olympics will not be the gain of the John Deere Classic, which is being played opposite the Games, beginning on August 11.
“On average I probably get tested four to five times a year which is very little compared to the rest of the Olympic sports”.
Rory McIlroy tees off at 4:36 a.m. ET Thursday in search of his first major title since the 2014 PGA Championship.
After much deliberation, McIlroy last month opted out of the Games, saying he was concerned about the Zika virus.
So i s Zika the real reason?
But McIlroy sees things differently. He’s still only 27, an enormous talent who surely has some of his best golf still in front of him. “I will be, I’m sure, at times pretty upset I’m not down there”. But from what I understand in speaking to the guys, the threat is lessening every day. “I don’t really know, you know?” he added. It was something he thought about for a long, long time, and understandably so.
McIlroy has other things on his mind as well.
McIlroy says the infrequent urine tests performed by golf’s major governing bodies aren’t almost enough to root out any doping cheats who might be looking for an edge on the course.
“It’s been a great experience to be involved in the development of Under Armour’s first golf footwear line, and I’ve learned a lot about how important my gear is to my game”, said Spieth, who signed with the brand in 2013.
Four-times major victor McIlroy sparked fresh controversy following his decision to pull out of the Rio showpiece by saying he’d watch, “stuff that matters”.
He said: “This was probably the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make in my life at 22 years old”. They’re as passionate about the Olympics as I am.
‘He’s more into it than I am quite honestly, but because he is, I would feel like I am not only letting him down, I’d let the country down as well.
“But at the same time that’s not the reason that I got into golf”.
But McIlroy made it clear he’s not in that camp.
“I don’t know if golf has its place in the Olympics now”, Johnson told a news conference on Monday.
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But the Texan prodigy, who won the Masters and the US Open previous year, indicated that pulling out of Rio was the “hardest decision” he has ever made and said going to the next Olympics in Tokyo in 2020 remains a “significant goal”.
