Rory McIlroy unlikely to compete in 2020 Olympic golf tournament

Don’t expect to see Rory McIlroy in the Parade of Nations at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Ahead of this week’s BMW SA Open in South Africa, the reigning FedEx Cup champion said he doesn’t intend to compete in the Olympic golf tournament — for either Ireland or the United Kingdom.

“More likely than not, I won’t be going to the Games in 2020,” McIlroy said. “Just because of my personal feelings towards – not the Olympic Games, the Olympic Games are great and I think golf included in the Olympics is fantastic. But for me, it’s just something I don’t want to get into, and that’s a personal choice and hopefully people respect that decision.”

When McIlroy bowed out of the 2016 Olympics, he cited the Zika virus threat in Rio de Janeiro. However, in an interview last week with the Irish Independent, McIlroy came clean with his real reason: a resentment of the Olympics that he was forced to choose the Republic of Ireland or Great Britain, of which Northern Ireland is part, in the Games. In his amateur career, McIlroy represented Ireland, a choice given to Ulster players because the Golf Union of Ireland oversees both countries. McIlroy, a Catholic, had previously announced he would again represent Ireland, a largely Catholic population, instead of Great Britain. He caught a lot of flak for the choice.

The four-time major winner didn’t slight his country in his remarks, saying he wanted to avoid potential issues regardless of his choice.

“It’s not to say where I’m from is a bad place. Northern Ireland is one of the best places on Earth, and I try to get back there as much as I can,” he said. “But again, it’s a personal decision and it’s a decision I haven’t taken lightly and a decision I’ve fought myself over for so many years.”

Pressed at last summer’s British Open on his choice to withdraw from the Olympic tournament, McIlroy was blunt about his feelings at that time on the sport’s return to the program. Now, with time to reflect and having seen the success of the event, McIlroy made it clear that he has nothing personal against golf in the Games.

“I think golf in the Olympics is a great thing, and it went so good last year and I hope it goes even better in 2020,” he said. “I just probably won’t be a part of it.”

Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.