Golf News: Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy explain decision to skip Rio Olympics

Jordan Spieth cited health concerns as the reason he decided not to participate in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, saying it was one of the hardest decisions he's ever had to make.

"This was something I very much struggled with," Spieth told reporters Tuesday at Royal Troon in Scotland, site of the 145th Open Championship which begins Thursday. "I bounced back and forth with it, and ultimately a decision had to be made (Monday), and so I made it."

The 22-year-old American said the Zika virus wasn't the only health issue that impacted his decision to become the 18th player to turn down the trip to Rio, where golf will be played in the Olympics for the first time since 1904.

The world's third-ranked golfer joins a list which includes top-ranked Jason Day of Australia, second-ranked Dustin Johnson and fourth-ranked Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, among others, of players skipping the Rio games.

Spieth noted he will not participate in the John Deere Classic, which coincides with the Olympics on Aug. 11-14, saying he doesn't think it's an "appropriate move" to play that week. Spieth won the Classic last year.

McIlroy said he doesn't regret his decision to stay home, and while he understands that priorities may be different for his peers, he doesn't feel a responsibility to grow the game by playing golf in the Olympics.

"I got into golf to win championships and win major championships," McIlroy told reporters Tuesday. "All of a sudden you get to this point and there is a responsibility on you to grow the game and I get that. But at the same time that's not the reason that I got into golf. I got into golf to win."

McIlroy also made it a point to criticize golf's handling of drug testing throughout the sport. He admitted to being tested "four to five times a year," a total he said was "very little" compared to other sports.

"Whether it be coming to their houses and doing blood and urine, I think drug testing in golf is still quite far behind some of the other sports," McIlroy said.

Masters champion Danny Willett, however, takes a different approach to playing in the Olympics. The 28-year-old Englishman will be representing his country in Rio, and his concerns of contracting the Zika virus are minimal.

"You've got more chance of getting malaria in South Africa than you have in getting Zika when you go to Rio," Willett said Tuesday.