To go or not to go – that has been the conundrum placed on the best golfers in the world after the sport’s return to the Olympics for the first time in 104 years.
There’s been so much talk about golf’s long-awaited return to the Games at Royal Troon this week it’s been easy to forget that the 145th Open championship starts tomorrow.
Jordan Spieth was the latest of golf’s big names tasked with trying to deal with the political hot potato when thrust in front of the glare of the world’s media yesterday.
The American made a last-minute decision on Monday to withdraw from the Olympics – meaning Matt Kuchar will now take his place in the American team for Rio.
With Rory McIlroy, Jason Day, Adam Scott, Dustin Johnson and Spieth among those electing to avoid a trip to Brazil next month, some of the shine has already been taken off the gold medal that is up for grabs.
When Spieth trudged into the media centre at Royal Troon yesterday to conduct his pre-Open press commitments, it was clear that the threat of the Zika virus rather than the intricacies of the par-3 Postage Stamp was going to be the main topic of conversation.
After a polite question on what it would mean to win this week’s event, the grilling of Spieth over his decision to pass up the chance to become an Olympian quickly began.
Indeed 16 of the 22 questions the young American from Dallas faced related to his Olympics withdrawal and Spieth appeared to have genuinely wrestled over the issue.
He said: “This was probably the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make in my life at 22 years old.
“I can probably honestly say that.
“This was harder than trying to decide what university to go to or whether to turn professional and leave school.
“This was something I very much struggled with. I bounced back and forth and ultimately a decision had to be made on Monday and so I made it.”
But while others such as former world number one McIlroy and the Open’s defending champion Zach Johnson have questioned the place of professional golf at the Olympics, Spieth says he would have loved to have represented his country in the biggest global sporting event.
He said: “Why was it so hard? Because I’m a huge believer in Olympic golf.
“It’s the most exciting sporting event for me to watch on TV and to have a chance of being part of it is something I definitely look forward to trying to do.
“This year I just had to try and weigh a risk that doesn’t present itself every year, and I just felt this was the right move for me.
“It came down to a personal decision that I don’t expect everybody to understand but I believe I’m making the right decision for my future and those around me.
“It’s going to be very difficult to watch the opening ceremonies, my peers compete for a gold medal and hear the national anthem playing.
“It is something I have looked forward to since it was announced in 2009 that golf would be in the Olympics. But I’ll make it a significant goal to be at Tokyo in 2020.
“It will be really tough to watch. I just had to make a decision and after weighing up the risk and health concerns, I took this route.”
And with that Spieth disappeared for a practice round at Royal Troon but not before quipping, with a wry smile, “Do we have a tournament this week?”
