Zika puts bite on Olympic dreams

Mosquito-borne virus has players wary of trip to Rio

Olympic qualifying for golf ends in seven weeks, at which time players will have to determine if medals outweigh mosquitoes.

For now, there is only concern - and Rory McIlroy is the latest player to say Zika is on his mind.

In an interview with the BBC after his Irish Open victory, McIlroy said he has been reading up on the mosquito-borne virus, which has been linked to serious birth defects.

McIlroy is engaged, and indicated he and his fiancee might be starting a family in the next few years.

"I have to monitor that situation," he said.

Masters champion Danny Willett was the next to weigh in. Asked about it on Tuesday at the BMW PGA Championship, the 28-year-old from England said he was keeping on top of it.

Willett's wife, Nicole, had their first child just 11 days before he slipped on the green jacket.

"It's not great, is it? There's going to be millions of people watching the Olympics, and you have 11,000 athletes right in the heart of where it's at," Willett said.

"If it turns out that it would be a massive threat to myself or to Nic or to our little man, then I probably wouldn't go. Family comes first. But as it stands, I think everything should be OK."

The Zika virus is in the news everywhere, which goes beyond the standard media outlets.

The International Golf Federation posted a two-page update on its website last month, and is passing along Zika-related material from the International Olympic Committee and the World Health Organization to tours and player liaisons.

Andy Levinson, executive director of USA Golf, said on Tuesday updates from WHO and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are posted in the weekly bulletins left in lockers and on the Players Links website, where PGA Tour players get other pertinent information they don't want to miss - like tee times, and FedEx Cup points, and where to leave their courtesy cars.

Two weeks ago at The Players Championship, the PGA Tour's doctor took part in one-on-ones with players about Zika.

Vijay Singh made a passing reference to Zika last month when the 53-year-old Fijian decided not to play. Marc Leishman of Australia also mentioned Zika, and for good reason. His wife nearly died last year of toxic shock syndrome and her immune system remains weakened.

The other players to pull out - Adam Scott, Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel - cited a busy schedule or family priorities.

Ask a player a question, and there's bound to be an answer, even if it's not entirely informed. McIlroy said he was planning to get "injections" on Wednesday so that "I will be immunized for whatever - if I do get bitten by a mosquito down there."

There is no vaccine for the Zika virus.

IGF executive director Antony Scanlon said he was in Rio de Janeiro a few weeks ago for meetings and saw workers spraying "an unbelievable amount of anti-mosquito" repellant around the various venues.

He also repeated the timing - August is the tail end of winter in Brazil, and mosquitoes are not expected to be as prevalent.

Scanlon said he was most curious by the silence from the other side - the women.

"If anyone is at risk, it's the ladies," Scanlon said from London. "We've heard nothing from them. I'm sure they've got concerns. We're distributing as much information as we can to players."

LPGA commissioner Mike Whan said as much two weeks ago during an Olympic media conference. He said five or six players have asked him about Zika, though none has said it would keep her from Rio.

In an email on Tuesday, he said not much has changed.

"They have been receiving regular updates on the topic," Whan said. "No player has suggested she is not coming (at least not to me). But it is certainly a concern."

It could be another example that the Olympics mean more to the women, who rarely get a stage as large as this and have a stronger tradition of competing for country in what was the first truly global tour.

Various headlines made it sound as though McIlroy and Willett might skip the Olympics because of Zika, and while their answers allowed some wiggle room, the context of their statements suggested nothing has changed.

At least not yet.

"We're down to go and hopefully they can give us some proper guidelines as to how to keep it at bay and keep it under control so that it doesn't ruin what could be potentially a fantastic Olympics," Willett said.

"Not as apprehensive as I once was," McIlroy said about the Olympics. "As it gets closer, I am relishing the thought of going down there and competing for gold."

This much is clear - golfers currently eligible for the Olympics are having to study more than hole locations and wind direction.

Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy tracks a tee shot under the watchful eye of England's Danny Willett during the final round of the Irish Open at The K Club, County Kildare, Ireland last Sunday. Both men are closely monitoring the Zika situation in Brazil as the Olympic Games draw closer. Paul Childs / Reuters