He called those sports “the stuff that matters”. All of a sudden you get to this point and there is a responsibility on you to grow the game and I get that. “And just at the time that I had to make the decision, I just felt this was the right move for me”.
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Spieth says he’s a huge supporter of Olympic golf and playing for the United States. The two-time major victor also made clear his withdrawal was on general health grounds, and not specifically because of concerns over the Zika virus.
However, Dawson does believe the world’s top four ranked players are using the virus as an excuse to disguise other reasons for not wanting to play.
With two-time major victor Jordan Spieth the latest to withdraw from the Olympics on Monday, the tournament will be without its four top players as Jason Day and Dustin Johnson have also opted to stay at home.
“This year I just had to try and weigh a risk that doesn’t present itself every year”, he said.
Nawal El Moutawakel, head of the IOC coordination committee, said a final pre-Games visit showed that sporting venues and the athletes’ Olympic Village are set for the starter’s gun.
Those risks – which Spieth declined to go into details about – ultimately caused Spieth to inform the International Golf Federation he would not be traveling to Rio.
TROON, Scotland (AP) – Jordan Spieth said pulling out of the Olympics was the hardest decision he’s ever made, and that it likely will haunt him as he’s watching golfers compete for a gold medal in Rio de Janeiro for the first time in 112 years.
Golf will be played at the 2020 Tokyo Games but its future is uncertain after that.
The women only had one player withdraw, Lee Anne Pace of South Africa, due to Zika concerns.
His comments on the Olympics and his role growing the game were certainly the most notable, but the entire press conference was a tour de force. I know you had to make it just for you.
Golf still has eight of the top 15 players in the world competing in Rio, though losing the top four could be a big setback in its bid to stay in the Olympic program.
“I’m not specifically pinpointing any one thing in my health concerns”, he said, referring to the mosquito-borne virus that the World Health Organization says is spreading rapidly in the Americas. But we do understand why these individual decisions have been taken.
Jason Day, Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy previously withdrew, all citing the Zika virus.
Two-time major victor Spieth, the world No. 3, had said last month he was “uncertain” about taking part amid Zika concerns.
Day and Johnson have said they plan on having more children, while McIlroy is engaged and said he would soon be starting a family.
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At the time of the IGF cutoff, American Bubba Watson, Masters champion in 2012 and 2014, was on top of the leaderboard.
