Masters winner Adam Scott says he has no regrets about ditching the Olympics, saying it’s a “questionable” call that the Tokyo Games are proceeding.
The Australian is not an advocate of golf featuring in the Olympics and confirmed his non-attendance well in advance of the Games.
With the COVID-19 pandemic ongoing, Japan has suffered a spike in cases and will be stuck in a state of emergency throughout the Olympics.
“Definitely no second thoughts. It’s questionable whether it should go ahead, an event of that scale,” Scott said, ahead of the British Open.
“Japan’s situation is not good at the moment. Certain parts of the world don’t understand the fear the Japanese are experiencing … they’re not as advanced as some other vaccination areas. You have to question whether it’s a responsible decision to go ahead.
“That’s not why I’m not going anyway. I’ve been home seven weeks this year and it’s hard to justify another week away.”
Scott believes that majors far outweigh the Olympics for prestige in golf. He said that the Open Championship, in which he had a devastating near-miss in 2012, was his No.1 priority; having already become Australia’s first US Masters winner in 2013.
He is taking some inspiration from Ash Barty’s Wimbledon win on the weekend.
“For me the Open now is – if we had to rank tournaments in love-to-win – it sits clearly at the top,” he said.
“I felt like I had a hand on the Jug once and it was a good feeling while it lasted. I would like to have two on there.
“If there is one event I’d like to win before my career is out it would be the Open. I’m not really stacking the pressure on myself this week, but it would be a lovely story for an Aussie to follow in Greg [Norman’s] footsteps.
“To win Wimbledon, it’s like winning the Open or the Masters for a golfer. It’s incredibly significant. [Barty] played great and it would be fun to keep the Aussie theme going to take Wimbledon and the Open away from the UK.”
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