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| Colin Montgomerie |
Former Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie said that the IOC "may reconsider golf's place on the program due to the growing number of big-name withdrawals from the Rio Games," according to Nivedita Shankar of REUTERS. Fears about the zika virus "have been cited by many as the reason for opting out of Rio, while other golfers have pulled out due to scheduling conflicts." Montgomerie, who will play in next week's British open for the first time in six years, "expressed his disappointment at those who had opted out of Rio." Montgomerie: "Am I worried it might affect golf's future in the Olympics? Very much so. First time we're back in the Olympics since 1904 and we don't show up. The IOC will have a good look at this and think, 'Hang on a minute, what's happened here? We've suddenly had to find around 300 new rooms, and we've had to build a golf course. That goes into the multi, multi-millions -- and then they don't show up?'" (
REUTERS, 7/7). In London, James Corrigan wrote there "has been only one female to decline the opportunity -- the South African Lee-Anne Pace -- and many, including Montgomerie, have questioned the
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| Henrik Stenson |
disparity." Yet there "is clear confusion in this regard, as unless a female is pregnant if bitten by the carrying Aedes mosquito then the risk of future birth defects is much less pronounced than in males." The virus "can stay in semen
longer than in blood, but it is not known exactly for how long or for how long it can be passed on to partners." British golfer Chris Wood makes the same argument as McIlroy in that, "I’m at that point in my life when it matters." Others, such as the 40-year-old Henrik Stenson have "no such worries." He joked, "I'm not afraid of mosquitoes -- I’m more afraid of bears" (
TELEGRAPH, 7/6).
