Most contentious moments of Golf in 2016

Rory McIlroy’s Olympic comments

Rory McIlroy was not the only top name to give a miss to Golf’s return to the Olympics but was one of the vocal ones on the topic.

“Honestly, I don't think it was as difficult a decision for me as it was for him Jordan Spieth” Mcilroy said. “I don't feel like I've let the game down at all. I didn't get into golf to try and grow the game. I got into golf to win championships and win major championships, and all of a sudden you get to this point and there is a responsibility on you to grow the game, and I get that. But at the same time that's not the reason that I got into golf. I got into golf to win. I didn't get into golf to get other people into the game.

“But, look, I get where different people come from and different people have different opinions. But I'm very happy with the decision that I've made and I have no regrets about it. I'll probably watch the Olympics, but I'm not sure golf will be one of the events I watch.” When pressed which events those would be, he replied: “Probably the events like track and field, swimming, diving… the stuff that matters.”

In all, the top 4 men golfers decided to pull out of the tournament citing the ZIka virus which has been linked with crippling birth defects and 20 male golfers in total asked for their names to be removed from the entry list whereas only one female golfer pulled out of the event.

The event proved to be a grand success with the golfers enjoying an interactive experience with other top athletes from different sports, something that they often don’t get a chance to do.