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Rory McIlroy to play for Ireland at 2016 Olympic Games Rory McIlroy to play for Ireland at 2016 Olympic Games
(about 2 hours later)
Rory McIlroy has confirmed that he will play for Ireland at the next Olympic Games in 2016 in Brazil. Rory McIlroy has ended the speculation about his 2016 Olympic allegiance by announcing he will represent Ireland and not Great Britain when golf returns to the Games in Rio.
Speaking at Fota Golf Club before the Irish Open which starts on Thursday, McIlroy put an end to his agonising over whether to represent Britain or Ireland. McIlroy used his preview press conference for the Irish Open in Cork to make the announcement, with its timing more of a surprise than the decision itself. That said, the Northern Irishman had previously spoken of such unease that he considered not putting his name forward for selection at all.
“I see this as a continuation of what I have always done,” he said. “I have been thinking about it a lot. I don’t know if it is because the World Cup is in Brazil and I was thinking a couple of years down the line. “If I had made that choice, it would have been a very selfish decision,” McIlroy said. “It would have been an easy way out for me but I thought about the good of golf. This is the first time golf has been in the Olympics for a long time and if the best players aren’t there, supporting the event and competing in it, then what’s the point? I feel like I have a responsibility to grow the game, as part of a group of players who can spread this game throughout the world.”
“I was thinking about all the times I have played for Ireland as a boy and everything. For me it is the right decision to play for Ireland.” Ultimately, McIlroy said that representing Ireland since his amateur days had been the deciding factor. At amateur level, Northern Irish golfers play under an all-Ireland golf banner in team events.
He had hinted previously that he might choose Britain when golf makes its return to the Games for the first time since 1904, saying he “felt more British than Irish” which led to widespread criticism in Ireland. “I have been thinking about the decision a lot and remembered all the times I represented Ireland as an amateur,” McIlroy said. “I have played for Ireland my whole life and there’s no reason to change that now. It’s just a continuation of what I’ve done.
He justified it then by saying: “It was a moment, I don’t want to say of weakness, but a moment of, I guess, frustration with it all.” He later threatened to sidestep Rio, so as “not to offend anyone”. “I played junior golf for Ireland, I played amateur golf for Ireland. Just because I am getting paid to play this great game now, it doesn’t mean things should change. It’s a decision I feel comfortable with and I’ll be proud to represent Ireland in 2016. I’m 100% sure it’s the right decision for me and I hope people respect my decision.
The golfer, who is from Northern Ireland,told the BBC in January: “I just think being from where we’re from, we’re placed in a very difficult position. “It was decision I had put off because I didn’t want to upset or offend anyone in any way. I have always been very proud to wear an Irish T-shirt or an Irish uniform.”
“I feel Northern Irish and obviously being from Northern Ireland you have a connection to Ireland and a connection to the UK. If I could and there was a Northern Irish team, I’d play for Northern Ireland.” McIlroy was raised as a Roman Catholic but had a golfing base and home in Holywood, a predominantly Protestant area in suburban Belfast.
The game’s governing body, the Royal & Ancient, had threatened to take the matter out of McIlroy’s hands. He has always been extremely careful in public on any matters relating to religion or Northern Irish politics, such is the delicacy of that situation for someone of McIlroy’s prominence. Yet McIlroy stirred controversy in his homeland in 2012 by stating in an interview that he “always felt more British than Irish”. That prompted suggestions he would automatically opt for Team GB.
Peter Dawson, its chief executive, said in April: “I think because Rory’s history of playing for Ireland at amateur level and, I think at World Cup level, that there may be a regulation within the Olympic rules that would require him to stay with that. It’s quite ambiguous really but there is a rule that a player who has represented one nation at a previous world championships from certain countries, that carries with you.” “That was just me thinking about what other people would think, instead of making a decision myself,” he added. “I’m a product of Northern Ireland; we have a British schools system, we pay for everything in sterling, so there are obviously parts of me that feel a little bit that way but I had always grown up wanting to play for Ireland.
McIlroy has twice played for Ireland at the World Cup. Dawson added: “Is the golf World Cup a world championship? Golf isn’t structured the same way as other sports but I would very much like to take this burden of choice away from the player if we can possibly do it because it’s not fair to him. I think he has made it pretty clear in one of two pronouncements that he’s worried about it and the last thing we want is players worrying about this.” “Golf, rugby, cricket, hockey; they all do Ireland as one. I am close to a lot of the Ulster [rugby] boys and all they want to do is get in the Ireland team. They are very proud to pull on that green jersey, just as I am and will be.”
McIlroy’s compatriot Graeme McDowell had already stated he would play for Ireland at the Olympics.
McDowell also confirmed he had suffered no negative reaction whatsoever having made that announcement.
Michael Ring, Ireland’s state minister for tourism and sport, immediately welcomed McIlroy’s move. “To have a two-time major winner declaring for Ireland is superb and will surely improve our medal hopes,” he said.