Australian golfer Adam Scott has officially ruled himself out of Olympic selection due to a busy playing schedule and other commitments.
Scott, who criticised the Olympic format last year had never fully committed to playing, unlike fellow Australian and world no.1 Jason Day, who has spoken of his desire to win an Olympic gold.
Scott’s decision to rule himself a non-starter is a blow for Australia’s hopes on the men’s side.
“My decision has been taken as a result of an extremely busy playing schedule around the time of the Olympics and other commitments, both personal and professional,” Scott said in a statement.
“I have informed the Australian Team Captain and relevant authorities, who are understanding of my position and I wish the Australian Olympic Team the very best of luck in Rio.”
When you look at the schedule of events it’s easy to see why golfers like Scott might make the decision to withdrawal from the Olympics.
The Olympic golf event is just two weeks after the final major of the year – The PGA Championship. It also follows a huge July with the World Golf Championship, the Greenbrier Classic, the Open Championship and the Barbasol Championship.
To automatically qualify for the Olympics players must be inside the top-15 in the world. Scott is currently ranked no.7 so would have been a certainty.
Players outside the top-15 can still qualify if a country doesn’t already have four inside the top-15, which means Marc Leishman, Marcus Fraser, Steve Bowditch and Cameron Smith have a chance in Scott’s absence.
“We’re obviously disappointed Adam will not play because he’s one of the best players in the world but we understand his position,” Golf Australia chief executive Stephen Pitt said.
“This means one of our other elite players will get the chance and we’re more than happy that we will field a very strong team in Rio.
“We will have at least four great golfers compete for Australia in Brazil and we’re very excited for what that means to golf in this country and more broadly around the world,” he said.
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