It would be safe to say that golf and the Olympic Games havenāt 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 weāre 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 Johnsonās situation.
Why wonāt Dustin Johnson play in Tokyo 2020?
Dustin Johnson in action during the Travelers Championship. (Getty)
Golfās 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 Woodshasnāt been able to playat Rio 2016 and he wonāt be at Tokyo 2020 either.
Sadly, Worldās No. 1 golfer Dustin Johnson hasalso announced he wonāt be playing at this yearās Olympic Games. The American superstar explained his decision was based on thetight calendar and focusing on other tournaments.
āI really didnāt think much about it,āJohnson admitted. āI actually didnāt really ever decide whether I was going to play or not, I just didnāt sign up. But itās 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.ā
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 This is the second time he has opted out of this tournament, having withdrawn fromthe 2016 Rio Olympics claimingconcerns about the Zika virus.
