Philip Reid: Men’s golf’s return to Olympics becoming a damp squib

The optics are terrible. At this rate, a house of cards would have a better chance of withstanding a hurricane than the men’s – not the women’s – golf tournament at the Olympics having a field of any true quality. This was not how it was meant to be, not how it was envisaged at all when the case was made for the sport’s return to the big circus.

As days and weeks edge towards golf’s return at Rio, the exodus of highly-ranked male golfers is akin to lemmings following one another over a cliff.

Increasingly, it seems that whichever man wins the gold medal will have an asterisk adjacent to his name to explain how many refused the opportunity to compete and why no other sports were affected to the same extent.

The domino effect has been extraordinary with Jason Day, the world number one, and Shane Lowry – recently married and hoping to start a family – the latest to pull out due to medical concerns over the Zika virus.

The decisions weren’t taken lightly, we’re told, and Lowry said his was taken with “a very heavy heart” after receiving expert medical advice.

Theirs follows a line of defectors that already included Rory McIlroy, Adam Scott, Charl Schwartzel, Louis Oosthuizen, Branden Grace, Graeme McDowell and more.

Medical advice

Apart from being millionaire golfers, some would say with bigger fish to fry when it comes to competing in the Major championships, the common thread among those men who have decided to bypass the Olympics is that they have young families or are considering starting families. As such, concerns voiced in the locker room and on the range in recent months have apparently been confirmed to them on seeking further medical advice.

As low as that risk is perceived to be, it exists.

I expect there to be more defectors from the men’s ranks; and, if, as of now, no top American or British player has made the decision not to go to Rio, there is yet time for that to happen. It will. The qualifying process doesn’t end until after the British Open at Royal Troon next month.

Ironically, the same exodus has not materialised from the women’s game. As of now, Lydia Ko et al – all of the leading women players in fact – will be teeing up and chasing gold.

It helped matters enormously, though, that the LPGA Tour created a three-week window without any competition or tournaments around the Olympics so that there would be no scheduling issues or excuses.

By doing so, those involved in women’s golf acknowledged what a big deal golf’s return to the Olympics – for the first time since 1904 – represents.

Also, there seems to be a greater awareness among the women golfers of the potential to increase their profiles as Olympians. And no mention of the Zika virus from the women, which is no longer just a Brazilian health issue but one which has surfaced through central America and in the USA too.

I’m not going to make excuses for the men, but there are other factors/issues that have arisen beyond the risk of potentially contracting the zika virus:

1) Golf thrives on tradition, as emphasised by how precious any of the four Majors are on players’ CVs, and there has been a gap of over 100 years since it was last played in the Olympics;

2) The scheduling is crazy, coming the week after the US PGA which itself is only two weeks after the British Open;

3) Golfers have a longer career lifespan than most other sportspeople, which means players who skip this one know they’ll more than likely be around in four years time for Japan and beyond that.

Perhaps, just as tennis took time to establish itself on its return to the Olympic fold, golf (certainly for the men) needs time to actually work up some “tradition”. The question is: will it have the chance to do that? The commitment to include golf in the Olympic Games only extends to 2020. It could be a short-lived experiment yet.

Lowry’s statement said: “Wendy and I have just recently been married and we hope to be lucky enough to have a family in the near future. Based on these circumstances, I have received firm medical advice that I should not travel to Rio.

Much anguish

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

The Irish men’s team will now comprise Pádraig Harrington and one other. Seámus Power, a recent winner on the web.com tour in the United States, is next placed to take the second spot although Paul Dunne could potentially move ahead of him by the time the qualifying process finishes.

Leona Maguire will represent Ireland in the women’s tournament with Stephanie Meadow – currently just outside an automatic qualifying place – in a position to claim a second spot.