ST ANDREWS, United Kingdom: Two-time Major winner Rory McIlroy (pictured) should be allowed to represent Ireland at the 2016 Olympics and not have to make his own mind up about who he plays for, Peter Dawson, CEO of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews (R & A) said.
Dawson, who played a key role in golf regaining its’ place at the Olympics when it was voted back in four years ago, said it was unfair placing the pressure on the 23-year-old Northern Ireland-born golfer to make up his mind.
McIlroy could play for either Great Britain or Ireland at the Olympics - where golf last featured in 1904 - as being from Northern Ireland he is also eligible for the British team.
While Northern Ireland no longer suffers from deadly sectarian attacks, religious tensions still run high and, were McIlroy to choose to represent Ireland, he could face a backlash from the Loyalist community, who are predominantly Protestant.
However, opting for Great Britain would see him become the possible target of abuse from Republicans, who are predominantly Roman Catholic.
McIlroy told the BBC in January that he might even skip the Games so as not to cause offence to either side of the sectarian divide.
“Play for one side or the other -- or not play at all because I may upset too many people. Those are my three options I’m considering very carefully,” he said.
Dawson, though, speaking to a select group of journalists, said he hoped that the decision would be taken out of McIlroy’s hands.
“Because of Rory’s history of playing for Ireland at amateur level and at World Cup level there may be a regulation within the Olympic rules which would determine who he would have to play for,” said Dawson.
“We are still looking at the matter but under that regulation he could play under Irish colours.
“It’s quite ambiguous as there are regulations within the IOC (International Olympic Committee) that if you play previous world championships for a certain country that has to carry with you.
“So the question is, is the World Cup of Golf a world championship and so on. Golf isn’t structured in the same way as it is with other sports.
“But I would very much like to take this burden of choice away from the player, if possible, because it’s not fair.
“I think Rory has made it pretty clear, and what I have heard privately he is worried about it and the last thing we want is a player worrying about it.”
Meanwhile, the R&A has said that the green light has finally been given for construction of the course for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro after months of legal wrangling.
“I can announce happily that last weekend all the permits needed to start constructing the course was issued down in Rio so that work can now proceed at pace,” said Dawson.
“If the construction schedule goes to plan, the course will be completed in good time for a test event and then for the Games tournament.
“It had not been a responsibility of the International Golf Federation to supply a venue, as was the case for stadiums in London for the most recent London Olympics.
“Instead, it is the IGF’s responsibility to ensure that the golf course is technically right and adequate.
“It has been a worry what with all the delays, so let’s just hope we can get it done and crack on.”
Work on the Gil Hanse-designed course in the Brazilian city has been delayed by a dispute over ownership of the site.
And while clearing work started a month ago, it was only last weekend that approval was given to begin the actual construction of the 18-hole layout.
The head of Rio organising committee, Carlos Nuzman, confirmed last month that the course would be ready for a test event in 2015.
Golf is returning to the Olympics in 2016 for the first time since the 1904 Games in the US city of St Louis.
But calls by a number of leading male professionals for an Olympic tournament other than stroke-play have been ignored for the time being.
“As you know, we went for 72-hole stroke-play for men and 72-hole stroke-play for women and that was after player consultation, and at the time, we wanted to be certain we had players support,” said Dawson.
“We had women support very strongly but not all of the men. We thought that to go canter to them would risk player support so we didn’t do that.
“So, we will go with that format for 2016, have a cracking good golf competition and then review it for future years rather than try and experiment with something different in four years’ time.”
Dawson meanwhile said he was confident that the game’s leading world-ranked players in the men’s and women’s games will commit to the 2016 Olympic Games, despite a packed tour schedule.
“I would expect the world’s best players to play,” he said.
“I have spoken to many players and through their individual tours and the mood seems to be very much so.”
The course, at Reserva de Marapendi in the Barra da Tijuca district where the largest number of Games venues will be located, is about five kilometres from the Athletes’ Village.AFP
