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Tokyo 2020: Why is Dustin Johnson not playing in the Olympics?

Despite being excluded from the Olympic Games for a long time, golf will be present at Tokyo 2020 in what will be its fourth time in this event. However, World's No. 1 Dustin Johnson won't be participating in theOlympics.

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By martín o’donnell

Dustin Johnson won't play at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. (Getty)
Dustin Johnson won't play at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. (Getty)

It would be safe to say that golf and the Olympic Games haven’t gotten along through history. But things seemed to have changed a few years ago when this sport returned for the 2016 Rio Olympics. Now it will be back for Tokyo 2020, but it will miss its current best-ranked player, Dustin Johnson.

Following two appearances at the 1900 Paris Olympics and the 1904 Saint Louis Olympic Games, golf has been left out of the Olympic programfor 112 years until it made a historic return in 2016. However, its lack of tradition at these events seems to be proving costly.

Even though we’re talking about the biggest sports competition in history, somegolfers seem to prioritize the traditional annual tournaments such as the Majors rather than competing at the Summer Olympics. If not, look at Dustin Johnson’s situation.

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Why won’t Dustin Johnson play in Tokyo 2020?

Dustin Johnson in action during the Travelers Championship. (Getty)

Dustin Johnson in action during the Travelers Championship. (Getty)

Golf’s return to the Olympic Games five years ago probably was great news for fans all over the world. However, they have suffered a huge blow as golf legendTiger Woodshasn’t been able to playat Rio 2016 and he won’t be at Tokyo 2020 either.

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Sadly, World’s No. 1 golfer Dustin Johnson hasalso announced he won’t be playing at this year’s Olympic Games. The American superstar explained his decision was based on thetight calendar and focusing on other tournaments.

“I really didn’t think much about it,”Johnson admitted. “I actually didn’t really ever decide whether I was going to play or not, I just didn’t sign up. But it’s right in the middle of a big stretch of golf for me, so that was the reason I was kind of waffling on it a little bit.”

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With the Open Championshipand theWorld Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational starting two weeks before and a week later of the Olympics, respectively, Johnson decided to skip the multi-sports event. This is the second time he has opted out of this tournament, having withdrawn fromthe 2016 Rio Olympics claimingconcerns about the Zika virus.

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