PADRAIG HARRINGTON CLAIMS to have found a simple solution to Rory McIlroy’s Olympic dilemma — he should declare for Great Britain and free up space for other Irish players to compete.
In an interview which will air on Setanta Ireland this Saturday, Harrington said that the decision facing McIlroy and his fellow Northern Irishman Graeme McDowell was really a “no brainer”.
Golf makes its debut as an official Olympic sport in 2016 and there has been much debate over who McIlroy, the current world number 2, and McDowell, world number 11, will represent. In all Olympic disciplines, athletes from Northern Ireland are eligible to declare for either Ireland or Great Britain.
Only 60 players will tee off at the Olympics in 2016. To ensure a spread of different nationalities, entries will be limited to two players per country based on their standings in the world rankings, although the world’s top 15 players will all be guaranteed automatic entry.
As Harrington explained to former pro Gary Murphy, if McIlroy and McDowell are both guaranteed automatic spots and declare for Team GB, it will free up places for two Irish players further down the rankings — including himself, possibly.
“I’m fascinated with all this conversation about who we declare for. If Rory and Graham declare for Great Britain, it means we get two more Irish guys into it,” said Harrington.
As in myself and Darren Clarke get to play. You see the system works if you’re in the top fifteen, you can have more than two from the country. So if somebody wants Rory to be as Irish as he can be, he better declare for GB and we get two more guys in.When it comes down to it, it will be a complete no brainer because nobody is losing out, you’re actually just gaining a couple of more spots for Irish guys.
Harrington’s hour-long interview is the first in a new series called The Cut Line which will premiere on Setanta Ireland this Saturday, 4 February, at 10pm.
