South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen has followed fellow major winner Adam Scott in saying that he will not compete at the Rio Olympics, fuelling the debate raging around golf’s return to the Games after a 112-year absence.
In a statement issued by ISM, his British-based management company, 2010 British Open champion Oosthuizen said he had informed South Africa’s Olympic committee of his decision after ‘long deliberations citing family and schedule issues’.
“I have always represented South Africa with pride so I didn’t make my decision without a great deal of thought,” said Oosthuizen. “I would like to wish our golfers and all other athletes competing in Brazil all the very best for success,” he added.
Scott, who won the US Masters three years ago, made his announcement on Wednesday, saying: “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.”
Last week, another former major champion, Fiji’s Vijay Singh, also announced he would skip the Olympics, citing concerns over an outbreak of the Zika virus in Brazil.
In order to fit the Olympics in to this year’s already packed schedule, the US PGA Championship has been moved forward and becomes July’s second major, two weeks after the Open Championship at Royal Troon.
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