I’ll decide who to represent – Rory
MAY 5, 2013
Rory McIlroy has shot down any suggestion he must play golf for Ireland at the Olympics.
An attempt by R&A chief executive Peter Dawson to ease McIlroy’s dilemma over which country to opt for in 2016 was firmly dismissed by the irritated Ulsterman during his pre-tournament preparations for the Wachovia Championship at Quail Hollow.
But, speaking for the first time about the controversial R&A intervention, the golf ace firmly resisted any effort to nudge him into the Irish camp in Rio when he said, “I think Rule 41 in the Olympic Charter states that I still have a choice and — it’s not like they can take it away from me.
“If you play for a country and then either change nationality or whatever, or if you don’t play for that country for three years, you still have a choice.”
He added, “I haven’t played for anyone, I guess, since the end of 2011 in the World Cup (when he and fellow Northern Ireland man Graeme McDowell both represented Ireland at Mission Hills in China).
“Obviously, going into the Olympics, that’ll be five years, so I’ll still have a choice.”
McIlroy also responded with a firm “no” when asked if he planned to play for Ireland in this year’s World Cup of Golf.
A driving force behind golf’s readmission to the Olympic family, Dawson also is president of the International Golf Federation, which will liaise with the IOC in resolving this thorny eligibility issue.
Following suggestions from McIlroy that he’d three alternatives, play for Britain, play for Ireland or skip Rio altogether rather than upset people on either side, Dawson last week made what many considered to be a helpful suggestion, especially in view of McDowell’s plea last year for officialdom to take the decision out of his hands.
No comments:
Post a Comment