Golfers won’t fear Zika at Rio Games

Los Angeles, February 9

Leading male golfers say they will not allow fears about the Zika virus keep them away from Brazil when their sport returns to the Olympics after an absence of more than a century. “We’ve travelled all over the world playing golf,” American world number 14 Brandt Snedeker said last week. “We’re used to being in different climates and different areas with many different concerns, not just the Zika virus or whatever it might be, so we realise the dangers when we do travel.”

Fellow American Brooks Koepka, the world No. 19, said he was not really concerned. “You’ve just got to be careful, that’s all.” For Argentine world No. 34 Emiliano Grillo, who is assured of a place in Rio, the Zika virus gave him a sense of deja vu. “Where I’m from, we’ve got another mosquito virus (Dengue fever) which is pretty similar,” Grillo said. “Everybody is making a deal about the Zika virus just because it’s something new. The same thing happened when Dengue fever popped up in Buenos Aires. I am not scared of it.” — Reuters