Game theory | Putt upon

Why male golfers are shunning the Olympics

Too many mosquitoes, not enough cash or glory

By R.G.

MANY of the world’s best golfers are too frightened to compete in the Olympic games. Jason Day (pictured), the current world number one, dropped out this week, citing his fear of the Zika virus. Other golfing gazillionaires have also declined to take part, including Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, Australia’s Adam Scott and South Africa’s Branden Grace. The world number two, Jordan Spieth, says he doesn’t yet know if he can make it.

Less pampered athletes have poured scorn on the pusillanimous pitch-and-putters. “It would take a lot more than Zika to stop me from going to Rio,” sniffed Cate Campbell, an Australian swimmer, to the Courier Mail, a newspaper in Queensland.

Female golfers seem much less nervous. So far only one, Lee-Anne Pace of South Africa, has withdrawn. Since the main danger the Zika virus poses is to unborn children, and men are unlikely to become pregnant, some sports fans have concluded that male golfers are a bunch of wedge-wielding wusses.

But is this fair? Although there is plenty of uncertainty about Zika, scientists think it can be transmitted via semen during sex. Mr Day and his wife plan to have more children soon. Neither wants to take even a small chance of their next baby being born with a shrunken head. As they see it, golf is just a game, even if you are representing your country.

The Olympics offer different costs and benefits for different kinds of athlete. For swimmers, a gold medal is the ultimate prize. It is also the only realistic chance to become famous and make a packet from endorsements.

For golfers like Mr Day and Mr Scott, by contrast, a gold medal is a bauble compared with winning one of the game’s four major tournaments. Also, flying all the way to Brazil means missing the John Deere Classic, a $5m tournament in Illinois, feeling jetlagged for the equally lucrative Wyndham championship the next week and, if they get sick, missing the Ryder Cup—the prestigious contest between Europe and the United States in September.

None of the men who pulled out needs Olympic publicity: Mr McIlroy made a cool $35m from endorsements last year. Some may even resent the idea of playing for no prize money in Rio while the Olympic movement—which some see as a bottomless bunker of corruption—rakes in the television fees.

For female golfers, Olympic golf is a better deal. Because far fewer people watch women’s golf tournaments, they are not nearly as well-paid as their male peers. Lydia Ko, the world’s best lady golfer, won nearly $2m in the United States last year. That’s roughly what Mr Spieth is thought to have paid his caddy.

Discover more

Football marks the boundary between England’s winners and losers

As cities enjoy the Premier League’s riches, smaller clubs in Brexit-supporting towns are struggling

Data suggest José Mourinho is as likely to flop at Spurs as to succeed

Football managers make less difference than many people think


Japan’s Rugby World Cup success was improbable. Can it keep it up?

Impressive upsets have happened before. Building on these victories will be trickier