London - Rory McIlroy says he will ignore golf in next month’s Olympic Games and watch only events ‘that matter’.
The Northern Irish golfer’s outspoken attack will cause further embarrassment for Rio Games organisers, who have watched the world’s leading players walk away from the event.
McIlroy, who has made £50?million from the sport and had originally announced that he would represent Ireland - not Great Britain - in Rio, said he had no regrets about pulling out.
McIlroy, citing fears over the outbreak of the Zika virus in Brazil as the main reason for dropping out, added: ‘Ultimately, it was a question of health and well-being - and of security.
‘Look at the Australian Paralympic sailing team, who have had a couple of members mugged in Rio. It’s an unstable place and I just wasn’t comfortable making the trip.’
The world’s top four players are among 20 golfers who have withdrawn from the event - the first time golf has been included in the Olympics for 112 years - with some saying taking part is simply ‘not a priority’.
The departure of the sport’s top players has led to a war of words between golfing chiefs, who suggested they had ‘over-reacted’ to the threat posed by the virus.
Asked whether he would watch the golf in Rio, McIlroy said: ‘I’ll be watching the track and field, the swimming, diving - the stuff that matters.’ He added: ‘I understand the responsibility of trying to grow the game. But I didn’t get into golf to grow it - I got into it to win.’
McIlroy, 27, then took aim at the sport’s lax attitude to drug testing and questioned why it was included in the Games.
He added: ‘I could be using human growth hormone and getting away with it.
‘If golf wants to be seen as a mainstream Olympic sport, it has to get into line with the other sports that test more rigorously.
‘I get tested four or five times a year and even that’s only a urine test, not a blood test, so it is very little compared to the rest of the Olympic sports.
‘I’d say the threat of doping in golf is pretty low. But we do have to be more vigilant.’
Daily Mail