McIlroy’s Olympics decision greeted with delight

Rory McIlroy had three choices regarding his participation at the 2016 Olympics and beyond, but opting out of the chance to take part in the Rio Games in two years was never really an option.

Since the International Olympic Committee in 2009 re-admitted golf to its movement for the first time since 1904, McIlroy was faced with a decision over whether he would represent Great Britain and Northern Ireland or Ireland. Yesterday, on the eve of the Irish Open at Fota Island Resort in Cork, he opted for the latter, the country he represented as an amateur under the auspices of the all-Ireland governing body, the GUI.

“I’m going to play for Ireland in 2016,” McIlroy declared yesterday during his pre-tournament press conference, thereby ending years or speculation and debate in his native Northern Ireland and beyond about what he should do with an issue he had previously described as putting him in an “extremely sensitive and difficult position”.