I’ll watch Olympics, but not golf: McIlroy

TROON, SCOTLAND: Four-time major winner Rory McIlroy may not watch the golf event on television when it returns to the Olympics next month and hinted on Tuesday

TROON, SCOTLAND: Four-time major winner Rory McIlroy may not watch the golf event on television when it returns to the Olympics next month and hinted on Tuesday it was not one of the sports that would matter in Rio de Janiero.

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Unlike world number three Jordan Spieth, who said earlier in the day that he agonised over his decision to withdraw from the Olympics, McIlroy said he was fully comfortable with his choice to opt out of golf ’s Games comeback after a 112-year absence. “I don’t think it was as difficult a decision for me as it was for him,” the Northern Irishman said. “I’m very happy with the decision I made and I’ve no regrets about it. I’ll probably watch the Olympics but I’m not sure golf will be one of the events I watch. Probably the events like track and field, swimming, diving, the stuff that matters.”

GOLFERS USING ZIKA AS AN EXCUSE: REDGRAVE

LONDON: Some male golfers are using the Zika virus as an excuse for missing the Rio Olympics when really the big-money majors matter more to them, Britain’s five-time rowing gold medallist Steve Redgrave said on Tuesday. “They are using it (Zika) as an excuse because of their crowded programme. They like the idea of the Olympics but when it comes down to it, the majors are more important,” he told the BBC.

ZIKA RISK ‘NON-EVENT’ FOR RIO-BOUND ROSE

TROON: Justin Rose is hopeful the threat posed by the Zika virus will prove to be a “non-event” as he explained his decision to compete at the Rio Olympics next month. Golf ’s return to the Olympics for the first time in 112 years has been hit by a host of the world’s leading male players withdrawing en masse.

But Rose said: “I think the Zika risk is going to be one of those things that we look back at and think it’s a non-event, hopefully.

“But at the same time, no one can stand there and categorically tell you you’re going to be okay, and that’s the problem.”

I’M NO TRAITOR, INSISTS RUSSIAN KLISHINA

MOSCOW: Long jumper Darya Klishina, the only Russian athlete cleared to compete in this summer’s Olympic Games in Rio, says she does not feel a traitor.

The 25-year-old was given the go-ahead on Sunday by the international federations to compete internationally as a neutral athlete. “I would like to point out that I didn’t start training in the USA with an American coach a month before this situation turned out the way it did. I have been there for three years. Therefore, it is wrong to criticise me and call me a Russian traitor,” said Klishina.