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Rory McIlroy, Jason Day to Skip Rio Olympics Over Zika Fears

We said this was a terrible idea, and each day we are proved more prophetic. If it’s not fecal matter on the water, savage protests, a recession with people starving in he streets, government corruption to make even Hillary Clinton blush, it’s now a mosquito-borne virus that delivers genetic defects to your kids while slowly decaying your brain and blood.

It’s Zika, and it’s scaring the Hell out of everyone except the Olympic organizers, who are looking more and more like Bruce Ismay every day.

[Editor’s Note: Ismay, Bruce – the simoniacal White Star cruise liner owner who insisted the Titanic go full bore into the iceberg, though others say circumstances forced his hand.]

Even Braxilian organizers are considering having he IOC move or cancel he games, not just for Zika, but for violence and unsafe venues. From today’s headlines:

“Dornelles’ comments came on the heels of another bloody weekend in Rio, which saw a police officer who had been serving as a bodyguard for Paes and a 34-year-old doctor killed in muggings-gone-wrong. Officer Denilson Theodoro de Souza, 48, was shot in the northern Rio neighborhood of Pavuna on Sunday. He was the 49th Rio officer killed since the start of the year, according to O Globo.

A day earlier, Gisele Palhares Gouvea was shot in the head in her car as she entered one of Rio’s main expressways on her way to her home in the Barra da Tijuca neighborhood.

Asked about Gouvea’s slaying, Dornelles responded, “What a disaster. The security crisis is very serious.””

Rory McIlroy and world number 1 Jason Day are the latest to drop out, joining Adam Scott, Charl Schwartzel, Louis Oosthuizen, Vijay Singh, and several others. Citing health concerns and Kika in particular, McIlroy stated that he and his fiancee expect to start a family sooner rather than later. As the Milwaukee crime bosses used to ask when they pondered if other wise guys could keep their mouths shut, “Why take a chance?”

NICE VELODROME RIO. AND IF NOT FOR HANSE, YOUR GOLF COURSE WOULD LOOK LIKE THIS TOO.

This is much more than “Why take a chance?” We already know the Olympics were bought by Rio with graft. (Obama didn’t slip them enough skim to lure them, he just intoned, “Choose Chicago…” which they didn’t. Barry, you didn’t speak their language, and you’re certainly not charming hem with your dad-style street cred. In fact, Queen Elizabeth thinks you’re execrable.)

But no, birth defects in children, nerve damage, and a serious loss of energy and general, flu-like malaise as your daily condition? Are you kidding? A golf medal is bogus anyway compared to winning a major. Golfers don’t need the Olympics. They have four Olympics each year – they’re called majors.

Jason Day concurred, citing exactly the same fears as everyone else.

You watch, as we get closer, there’ll be a mass exodus by the ladies in particular and class action lawsuits years from now by people who didn’t pull out when everyone realizes exactly what they sacrificed for money and a humk of metal.

Darren Clarke supported Rory’s stance just last weekend:

‘Rory is a young man who’s going to get married later this year and looking towards having children,’ said Clarke. ‘If the Zika virus had been around a little bit longer and was understood a little bit more, or there was a cure, that would maybe ease some of the fears.

‘For the lady pros, if they want kids, I could understand it being a risk they wouldn’t want to take. While it is the Olympics and there’s a gold medal at stake, family must come first. There has been some stick for those who have pulled out but you must respect their choice,’ Clarke said.

And so the dog and pony show using golfers as puppets will continue, further and further diminished. Take this advice: go on a vacation Olympics month. Go play golf every day instead. Without any of the best players in the World going, you won’t be missing anything.