All of a sudden you get to this point and there is a responsibility on you to grow the game and I get that.
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But Rose 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 don’t really know of any drug that can give you an advantage all the way across the board”, he said.
Spieth’s withdrawal from Rio 2016 was revealed on Monday by International Golf Federation president Peter Dawson.
A putative “big four” has developed in golf, with the Northern Irishman competing for major honours alongside Spieth, Jason Day and Dustin Johnson, and one journalist compared it to the Beatles.
With five of Ireland’s half-dozen competitors teeing off in the morning, four-time major champion McIlroy was the pick of the bunch but Padraig Harrington was only a shot behind him, the Open champion of 2007 and 2008 opening with a 70 having double-bogeyed the par-three 8th, the famous Postage Stamp hole, and then bucked the trend with birdies at 16 and 17.
“I totally respect and understand their perspective and their decision, and it obviously comes down to personal reasons, and you have to respect that”.
Rory McIlroy says golf must improve its drug-testing regime as he could “get away with” doping as it stands.
In contrast, the PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic will be staged during the men’s Olympic event, although Jordan Spieth will not defend his title after pulling out of the Games.
“I don’t want to force the game on anyone”, he continued.
“I think part of being a professional athlete is also to grow the game and be a role model for young people watching on TV, and the Olympics is the ideal opportunity to do that”.
Bach added that “very different reasons” not related to Zika have also been cited in golf circles for skipping the Olympics.
Speaking to RTÉ Sport, McIloy reiterated his contentment with the decision not to travel to Brazil and says it holds little attraction at this moment in time for the world’s top golfers. “If you make four threes there this week, you’re probably going to gain a bit of ground on the field”.
“I think golf in the Olympics is great for golf”.
But the 27-year-old, who was 10th in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational on his last start, said: “I’m heading in the right direction”.
Indeed, that sort of sums up how I feel about his comments as a whole. He said he would carry the decision with him through the Olympics and for a while. “I will be, I’m sure, at times pretty upset I’m not down there”.
“I will continue to carry it with me through these Games and for a while It will loom over me throughout the Olympic games, for sure”.
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He’s going, though, and so is countryman Danny Willett, the reigning Masters victor.
