RORY McILROY WILL BE TOLD FROM THE TOP TO PLAY FOR IRELAND IN OLYMPICS

FROM THE DAILY TELEGRAPH WEBSITE
By JAMES CORRIGAN 
Rory McIlroy’s dilemma concerning which country he will represent when golf returns to the Olympics in 2016 looks to be over after the Royal&Ancient revealed on Tuesday that the authorities were ready to instruct him to play for Ireland, not Great Britain.

Far from feeling aggrieved at being forced to appear under the tricolor in Rio, the Ulsterman will simply be relieved that the governing bodies have seen sense and are taking moves to take the decision out of his hands.

The world No2 was unavailable for comment  but he had previously indicated that he was considering skipping the Olympics altogether because of the escalating controversy over which flag he would choose.

This wise course of action will almost certainly allow him to tee it up in Brazil as his sport is included in the Games for the first time in 112 years.

Peter Dawson, the chief executive of the R&A, which was instrumental in golf being reaccepted into the Olympic family, explained the mechanisms behind the prospective ruling. It had been thought that it would be up to the players to choose.

“Because of Rory’s history of playing for Ireland at amateur level and I think as a professional in the World Cup there may be a regulation within the Olympic rules that would require him to stay with that and play for Ireland,” Dawson said.

“There is a rule in the Olympics that a player who has represented one nation at a previous world championship for a certain country will carry on with them.”
That would apply to McIlroy, who played for Ireland in the world championship at both amateur and professional levels and in the World Cup of Golf as a pro.
Dawson has been in discussions with the International Olympic Committee, with which he holds a lot of sway, and, Telegraph Sport has learnt, with McIlroy himself.
Dawson is clearly determined to push through the judgment.
“I would very much like to take this burden of choice away from the player if we can possibly do it, because it’s not fair to him,” Dawson said.
“I think he’s made it pretty clear in one of two pronouncements that he’s worried about it and the last thing we want is players worrying about this.”
McIlroy came under fire in Ireland when he hinted that he might choose Britain, saying he “felt more British than Irish”.
After that comment he received abusive messages on social networks, hate mail and was criticised on Irish television and radio, leading him to issue an open letter to his fans outlining his quandary.
Later he threatened to sidestep Rio, so as “not to offend anyone”.
Another Northern Irishman who will be happy with the news is Graeme McDowell. Indeed, McIlroy’s World Cup partner pleaded with the IOC to take such a course of action.
“The Olympic Committee should either step and tell us either ‘you guys are playing for Ireland’ or ‘you’re playing for Great Britain’,” McDowell said last October.
“We are in a unique scenario in Northern Ireland in that we have one foot in each team. So it’s going to be a lot easier if someone makes the decision for us.
“Obviously Rory’s come under a lot of scrutiny for saying he might play for Great Britain. I come from a mixed-religion family.
"My mum’s Catholic and my dad’s Protestant. And my mum would probably like me to play for Ireland, and my dad might like me to play for Britain.
"But then I always kind of sit on the fence because that’s exactly the only place I can sit. I’d play for whatever team would have me come 2016.”
Both McDowell and McIlroy came under the Golf Union of Ireland umbrella when growing up as that body oversees the amateur game in both the south and the north.
Dawson also revealed that the remaining permits for the course being built for the Olympics have finally been granted.
The construction, being overseen by the acclaimed golf course designer Gil Hanse, has been stalled for more than six months because of the Brazilian red tape.
Anthony Scanlon, the executive director of the International Golf Federation, under whose auspices the Olympic golf tournament is conducted, expressed his fears last month.
“There is now very little time available to construct and condition a championship-standard golf course,” he said. The course is due to be opened in 2015 to stage a test event.