Gary Player: Pro Golf Should Be Kicked Out of the Olympics
Golf will make its return to the Olympics for the first time in 112 years at this year’s games in Rio de Janeiro, but a number of the world’s top players, including U.S. superstar Jordan Spieth and the world’s number one ranked golfer Jason Day, have dropped out over Zika virus fears.
Golf legend Gary Player sounded off during an interview with the FOX Business Network’s Stuart Varney and said it could the end of golf in the Olympics.
“[With] my 18 Majors and 165 tournaments – [If I could have] had an Olympic Gold Medal amongst them, it would have been the joy of my life. I would have given anything. I would have taken a rowing boat and rowed over to play in the Olympics. And this excuse about Zika is feeble. You have Zika in America in some states right now. You’ve got more of a chance of being killed by a gun or a motorcar in America than getting Zika,†he said.
Player, who is also the captain of South Africa’s first Olympic golf team, said he wouldn’t blame the Olympic Committee for kicking golf out of future games as a result of so many notable players refusing to attend.
“We all worked hard to get golf in the Olympics. I think professional golf should be kicked out of the Olympics…They should replace us with amateurs who would hold it at high esteem to represent this country with great joy,†he said.