Belfast, June 22: Northern Ireland's star golfer Rory McIlroy on Wednesday decided to pull out of the Olympics Games in Rio in August over the threat of the Zika virus, dealing a blow to the sport making a return to the quadrennial event after 1904.
The world No.4 was set to represent Ireland in Rio as golf returns to the Games after a 112-year absence, but revealed last month he was monitoring the situation in Brazil following his engagement to Erica Stoll and Zika's links to defects in newborn babies.