Jason Day cites Zika threat for bowing out of Rio Olympics

Jason Day on Tuesday became the highest-profile golfer to drop out of the Olympics due to concerns about the Zika virus.

“The reason for my decision is my concerns about the possible transmission of the Zika virus and the potential risks that it may present to my wife’s future pregnancies and to future members of our family,” Day said in a statement early Tuesday morning. “I have always placed my family in front of everything else in my life.”

Day was quickly joined by defending champion of this week’s WGC-Bridgestone Invitational Shane Lowry, who issued his own statement on Tuesday saying he would also not compete in Rio. A newlywed, Lowry pointed to Zika as his reason for joining Rory McIlroy as no-shows for Ireland in Rio.

Day, who was clearly uncomfortable discussing the situation later during a press conference in advance of the event at Firestone, noted this year’s especially hectic golf schedule as a secondary reason for pulling out of the games.

“It’s a little bit different for us [than for track and field, swimming, and other athletes] because we play week in and week out,” Day responded to a query about why so many golfers had opted out of Rio.

But for the world No. 1, the 11th of 12, and likely not the last, golfer to withdraw from the Rio summer games, family trumped competing for Australia in what is the biggest blow yet to the success of golf’s return to the Olympics for the first time since 1904.

“It was a very difficult decision to make, obviously, from representing your country, but also having to put family first and make sure that’s a priority over anything else — more so than golf and the Olympics,” said Day.

The reigning PGA champion said he waited until Tuesday to make his announcement out of respect for friend and mentor, Tiger Woods.

“Looking back on it, it was probably late last week that I made the decision of really, finally going ahead and withdrawing my name from the Olympics,” he said. “I decided to do it this week because of Tiger’s event was last week. He’s a buddy of mine and I didn’t want to take anything away from that tournament.”

Day’s decision followed that of four-time major champion McIlroy, who also blamed Zika when he pulled out of the competition last week. Adam Scott cited the “extremely busy playing schedule” when he dropped out of the Olympics back in April.

Indeed, with three of the top players in men’s golf out and others sure to follow, Day’s withdrawal could signal the death blow for golf in the Olympics. Though no LPGA Tour player has withdrawn, formerly top-ranked Stacy Lewis has voiced worries about Zika, which has been linked to severe birth defects, as well as potential neurological issues in adults.

“Definitely concerned. The Zika thing is a serious deal,” the formerly top-ranked Lewis said earlier this month. “As an athlete how do you pass up the Olympics? It’s unfortunate that we’re the ones that have to make a decision. You’d almost like to see a governing body or somebody like that kind of put their foot down and say, ‘no, we’re not going.’ But there’s too much money in it, I don’t think that will ever happen. It’s hard being an athlete, that’s your dream, and to say you’re not going to go, it’s a hard decision to make.”

Day joins a growing list of golfers who will cede their places in Rio to second-stringers like Scott Hend and Marcus Fraser, now the top players on the Aussie team. Not exactly the look those looking to grow the game had hoped for in showcasing golf at the Olympics.