Rory McIlroy has again said that the choice is his as to whether he will play for Ireland or Great Britain in the upcoming 2016 Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro.
The Score reports that McIlroy made these comments while at press conference in North Carolina just ahead of the Wells Fargo Championship in which he’ll be participating.
McIlroy’s comments that he’ll be able to choose who to play for come soon after the chief executive of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews Peter Dawson said that McIlroy may be held to playing for Ireland since he represented Ireland twice in the World Cup.
Dawson recently explained, “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.”
On Wednesday May 1, McIlroy said, “I think ‑‑ I mean, I saw I think it’s Rule 41 in the IOC states that I still have a choice.”
“It’s not like they can take it away from me. If you play for a country and then you either change nationality or whatever or if you don’t play for that certain country for three years, you still have a choice. I haven’t played for anyone, I guess, since 2011, end of 2011 World Cup. Obviously, going into the Olympics that will be five years, so I’ll still have a choice.”
McIlroy was also asked if golf bosses were trying to take the choice out of his hands and make his life easier, to which the golfer replied “No, not really.”
“I think the more it’s talked about, the more it’s just going to get blown up. So I’d rather not really talk about it until the time that I have to decide what to do.”
McIlroy is apparently torn over the decision as to play for Ireland or the UK. Previously, McIlroy had said, “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.”
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