McILROY’S IRISH AYE TO TOKYO BERTH
RORY McILROY has announced he’ll play for Ireland in the Tokyo Olympics – four years after claiming he’d rather watch diving than the golf in Rio.
The four-time Major winner declared he’d play for Ireland in 2016 but pulled out citing the Zika virus. At The Open in Royal Troon that year he said: “I’ll probably watch the events like track and field, swimming, diving – stuff that matters.”
McIlroy, also eligible to play for Great Britain and Northern Ireland, later admitted he resented the Olympics forcing him to choose. But McIlroy has made a complete U-turn and said: “Things can change but right now in my head, I will go to Tokyo. Unfortunately the part of the world I’m from, one decision is going to make some people happy and it is going to disappoint others.
“As a young boy it was always my dream to play for Ireland. I was very proud to put on that shirt or that blazer. It’s the same as the rugby players, right?”
He added: “Majors are the pinnacle of our sport and I still believe they are. But it doesn’t mean I am not going there to try my heart out to win.”