Royal Troon …  Double Major winning Jordan Spieth declared it to be the hardest decision of his life to withdraw from the USA Olympic Golf team.

Spieth’s withdrawal became the 19th male golfer to decide not to tee-up in Rio.

However it was not till today ahead of this week’s Open Championship that the current World No. 3 spoke for a first time on his decision.

“Listen, this was probably the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make in my life, at 22 years old,” Spieth said.

“I can probably honestly say that. “This was harder than trying to decide what university to go to.

Jordan Spieth defends his decision not to compete in the Olympics.

(And) whether to turn professional and leave school. This was something I very much struggled with. I bounced back and forth with, and ultimately a decision had to be made yesterday, and so I made it.”

Spieth, ranked No. 3 in the world, reached the same decision as No. 1 Jason Day, No. 2 Dustin Johnson and No. 4 Rory McIlroy, but Spieth was the last to do so. That is one of the reasons the Olympic decision became a greater burden to Spieth than anyone else.

“Why was it so hard?” Spieth said of the decision. “Because I’m a huge believer in Olympic golf. I’m a huge believer in playing for your country, showing I absolutely look forward to summer and winter Olympics.

“It’s the most exciting sporting event for me to watch on TV and to have a chance to be a part of it is something I definitely look forward to trying to do. This year I just had to try and weigh a risk that doesn’t present itself every year, and just at the time that I had to make the decision, I just felt this was the right move for me.

“Not everybody’s going to understand. Nobody’s going to understand what it’s like in my shoes . . . As you can see, a lot of golfers are trying to decide for themselves. Mine came down to just a very personal decision that, again, I don’t expect anybody to understand, but trust that I believe I’m making the right decision for myself, for my future and for those around me.”

And contrary to a remark made during Monday’s IGF conference by IGF President, Peter Dawson and not journalists, Spieth declared his decision had nothing to do with the Zika virus.

“I’m not specifically pinpointing any one thing in my health concerns,” he said.

“You guys (reporters) have put that without me saying it. This is health concerns as a whole. I had to weigh the risk for the reward.”

Spieth said he could understand why some would be skeptical as to why so many male golfers have withdrawn, while the only female golfer to say she is skipping Rio is South Africa’s Lee-Anne Pace.

“They’re as passionate about the Olympics as I am,” he said. “They also are not in my shoes. So I feel that many, if not all of you, would have made the same decision I made if you were in my shoes.”