Rory McIlroy will represent Ireland and not Great Britain when golf returns to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.
The mercurial irishman had been thinking of pulling out of the Games, because he didn’t know whether to represent Team GB or his country of birth.
“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.”
Representing Ireland since his amateur days had been the deciding factor, McIlroy said. At amateur level, Northern Irish golfers play under an all-Ireland golf banner in team events.
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