We don’t know who was the last straw—in the last few days, both Rory McIlroy and South Africa’s Branden Grace said they wouldn’t play in the 2016 Olympics—but officials are showing frustration with top golfers taking a pass on Rio. Said International Olympic Committee member Barry Maister, “I don’t like it, and I don’t think the sport should be allowed to continue in the Games under that scenario. Once they’ve got in, they have got to deliver. Just getting in with your name, and then putting up some second or third rate players, is so far from the Olympic ideal or the expectation of the Olympic movement. The Olympics is about the best, and they pledged the best. Quite frankly, any sport that cannot deliver its best athletes, in my view, should not be there.”
Which raises some interesting questions, and we’d like to hear your opinions:
*Do you care if golf is in the Olympics?
*Are players within their rights to skip the games for any reason?
*Should the game of golf be penalized, perhaps dropped from the Olympics, for the actions of some of its top players?
*Does golf need the Olympics more than the Olympics need golf?
Let us know what you think, commenting below.