Inverness, Scotland … Despite also harbouring reservations, Patrick Reed confirmed he will replace reigning US Open champion, Dustin Johnson in next month’s four-man USA Olympic Games Golf Team in Rio De Janeiro.
Johnson has become the 16th top-ranked male golfer to withdraw from the August 10th start to competition and like the majority citing concerns over the Zika virus. (NB – Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez made himself unavailable but he would not have qualified for this Spanish Team).
And Johnson, who captured last week’s WGC – Bridgestone Invitational in Ohio, will not be the last as top-ranked New Zealander Danny Lee is on the verge also of withdrawing.
Lee is currently sharing second place heading to the third round of the Scottish Open but it citing a lack of information on the part of the International Olympic Committee over the lack of information as his reason ahead of his likely withdrawal.
Patrick Reed will replace reigning US Open champion Dustin Johnson in the men’s Olympic Golf team.
Johnson’s withdrawal brings to eight, and half of those to have withdrawn, who also have won Major Championships in their careers.
“As an athlete, I can think of no greater honour than representing the United States in the Olympic Games,” Johnson said in a statement released by his agent David Winkle.
“However, after much careful consideration and discussion with both my family and my team, I have made the decision to withdraw from the 2016 Olympic Games.
“This was not an easy decision for me, but my concerns about the Zika virus cannot be ignored. Paulina (Gretzky, Johnson’s fiancee) and I plan to have more children in the near future, and I feel it would be irresponsible to put myself, her or our family at risk.
“I believe I am making the right decision for me and most importantly my family.”
The Texas-born Reed, who has four wins on the PGA Tour, is also a young father of two-year old daughter, Windsor-Wells Reed but after long consultation with his wife, Justine Reed will now travel to Rio to join team-mates Jordan Spieth, Bubba Watson and Rickie Fowler
“I said if one of our team happened to pull out, then I will definitely be playing,” said Reed who also is competing this week in Scotland.
“Any time I can wear stars and stripes, I’ll do it so I’ll be on the flight. It doesn’t matter to me on where it is, when it is. If I can play for my country, I’m going to go play.
“Well, the Zika virus is always a concern, but I’ve talked to Justine about it. We’ve discussed at the end of the day, she looked at it the same way; we have our little baby girl, and so we’ve already started our family.
“If we pursue to have another child, we’re willing to play that event. There are some things that we feel like we might be able to do to be fine in that situation. It’s just kind of one of those, I’ll say, risk/rewards.
“But I’ve always dreamed about and thought about being able to play for a Gold Medal and now that golf is in the Olympics, I’ve got that opportunity, I’m going to go for it.”
LIST OF MALE GOLFERS TO HAVE WITHDRAWN FROM COMPETING IN RIO
Vijay Singh . . . Fiji . . . Zika . . . April 12
Adam Scott . . . Australia . . . Schedule . . . April 20
Louis Oosthuizen . . . South Africa . . . Schedule . . . April 21
Charl Schwartzel . . . South Africa . . . Zika . . . April 26
Marc Leishman . . . Australia . . . Zika . . . May 5
Tim Wilkinson . . . New Zealand . . . Family, schedule . . . May 10
Rory McIlroy . . . Northern Ireland . . . Zika . . . June 22
Graeme McDowell . . . Northern Ireland . . . Family . . . June 23
Branden Grace . . . South Africa . . . Zika . . . June 24
Shane Lowry . . . Ireland . . . Zika . . . June 28
Jason Day . . . Australia . . . Zika . . . June 28
Hideki Matsuyama . . . Japan . . . Zika . . . July 3
Brendon de Jonge . . . Zimbabwe . . . Schedule . . . July 5
Camilo Villegas . . . Colombia . . . Zika, schedule . . . July 6
Dustin Johnson . . . USA . . . Zika . . . July 8
