OAKMONT, Pa. -- Jordan Spieth isn't 100 percent certain he's going to represent the United States in the Olympic golf tournament in August.
When Spieth was asked Monday at his 2016 U.S. Open news conference about his decision to play, the defending champion suggested the questioning reporter wasn't representing Spieth truthfully.
“You are putting words into my mouth, sir,” Spieth said.
Well, OK. So, world No. 2, are you playing in the Olympics or not?
“I’m not sure where I’ll play next, even after this week,” Spieth said. “You never know. Right now I’m pretty confident with what we have heard from not only the PGA Tour but our personal outreach. I think being an Olympian is just an absolute tremendous honor, but does being an Olympian outweigh any kind of health threat? No. If I thought that the threat was significant I certainly wouldn’t go, but based on what’s come to my knowledge at this point it seems like it’s going to be an extremely memorable experience and I look forward to trying to win a gold for the United States."
Spieth is just the latest member of the modern Big Three to reconsider competing in the Olympics over fears of the spread of Zika virus. Rory McIlroy said after winning last month's Irish Open that he was looking into Zika, ultimately deciding he would compete. World No. 1 Jason Day was gung-ho about playing for Australia, but he has recently walked that back, opening the door to removing his name from consideration.
On Monday, New Zealander Tim Wilkinson became the latest player to announce he was withdrawing his name from consideration. He joins Adam Scott, Marc Leishman, Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel, Vijay Singh and Miguel Angel Jimenez as players who have all opted out of potentially playing in the 60-player men's tournament.
No significant female player has made a similar announcement.
