Don’t be surprised if Jason Day withdraws from the Olympics very soon

The Aussies could have had a hell of a team...

The list of players withdrawing from the Olympics continues to grow. World number four Rory McIlroy is the highest ranked player to announce his withdrawal, but we wouldn’t be at all surprised to see world number one Jason Day follow suit in the very near future. 

“I’m going to make my decision when it comes time to, but I really haven’t had the opportunity to really sit down and think about it, digest everything,” said the 28-year-old Australian. “Now Rory’s pulled out, there’s been a number of guys that have kind of pulled the pin on playing, which is obviously understandable. I’ll probably look at the situation very soon and see what my decision is.”

Several players, including Day’s fellow countryman Adam Scott, based their decision not to compete on scheduling issues, but the majority of recent withdrawals cite the Zika virus as the main reason.

“Let me tell it this way, me and Ellie are probably not done having kids,” said Day, referencing the risk the Zika virus poses to pregnant women. “I have to weigh that pretty heavily up against representing my country and trying to win a gold medal.” 

Day says he won’t make a decision until nearer the mid-July deadline, but sounds like he is already preparing to deliver a further blow to the Australian Olympic team. “There’s obviously no timetable with regards to, you know, if I’m going to make a decision or not,” he said. “It’s just, I want to make sure that family comes first for me.”

Team Australia would have been one of the hot favourites for a gold medal, with world number one Jason Day and world number eight Adam Scott. If Day joins Scott in pulling out, and with third-highest Aussie Marc Leishman having declared that he won’t compete, Australia may be represented by Danny Lee and Scott Hend.