Rory McIlroy says the reward on offer at the Olympics is “not worth the risk”

Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry play a lot of golf together

At the beginning of May, Rory McIlroy shared his belief that players should do their bit to represent their country in the Olympics.

“It’s a week,” said McIlroy at the time. “You know, go play four rounds really competitively and try to win a gold medal.”

McIlroy, unlike several players who had openly stated that they didn’t value the prospect of a gold medal particularly highly, seemed to believe that Olympic success could be as significant as a major victory.

“I don’t know how that will stack up against the other things that I’ve done in my career now, but maybe I might look back in 20 years’ time and a gold medal might be one of my crowning achievements in the game, you never know,” said McIlroy. “So it’s an opportunity to do something that you’ve never done before.” 

Six weeks later, McIlroy decided that the risks of the Zika virus were too great.

Now, a few days after his withdrawal, McIlroy has further explained the thought process behind his withdrawal, and it appears the 27-year-old has had a rethink about the value of Olympic gold. 

“I mean, look, what can I say? I feel like I have four Olympic Games a year. I have my four majors. They’re the things that are most important to me. I weighed up the risks, I weighed up the reward, and I just felt like the reward at the end of it wasn’t worth the risk of going down there. Whether it be Zika, whether it be security concerns, I just said, ‘You know what, I’m happy with my four Olympics a year – my four majors.”

McIlroy is not the only Irishman to withdraw. Graeme McDowell announced his withdrawal the moment McIlroy’s statement brought him into contention, and world number 25 Shane Lowry has followed suit. 

“Wendy and I have just recently been married and we hope to be lucky enough to have a family in the near future,” said Lowry. 

“I have not taken this decision lightly and it has been a source of much anguish for me over the past week.

“I am a very proud Irishman and I love my country.

“While I am bitterly disappointed to be missing out on that experience and the opportunity to win an Olympic medal for Ireland, on this occasion I have to put my family’s welfare first.”