Rio, you have a problem.
Actually, you have many problems, but now you have one giant world No. 2-sized problem.
If there's one golfer who holds the future of golf from a global perspective in his hands, it's Rory McIlroy. Jason Day is too much of a homebody. Jordan Spieth is too entrenched on the PGA Tour. Nobody else is really good enough. So the weight of a sport, while shared by many, rests one one man's shoulders when it comes to worldwide ambassadorship.
That's why it wasn't a big deal when Adam Scott or Charl Schwartzel or Marc Leishman dropped out of the 2016 Olympics. Some because of Zika, some apparently not because of Zika. Rory dropping out though? Extenuating circumstances or not, that would be a massive deal and likely a death blow to the future of golf at the Olympics.
On Sunday, McIlroy insinuated to the BBC that he's at least considering the possibility of not playing.
"As it gets closer, I am relishing the thought of going down there and competing for gold," McIlroy told BBC. "But I have been reading a lot of reports about Zika, and there have been some articles coming out saying that it might be worse than they're saying, and I have to monitor that situation.
"There's going to be a point in the next couple of years where we're going to have to think about starting a family. Right now, I'm ready to go, but I don't want anything to affect that."
Uh oh. McIlroy also said he was getting Zika injections this week, but the table has been set for him to withdraw. Here's why that's such a big deal.
The sport is only guaranteed a spot through the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. A vote for golf as an Olympic sport beyond that will come between Rio and Tokyo. If McIlroy doesn't show up for Rio, do you think anyone is going to vote for golf going forward? No.
The 2016 Olympics needs McIlroy more than -- maybe twice as much as -- any other golfer. He is golf to so many people around the world and has a chance to unify the power brokers that be over a sport that has been an outsider to these games over the last century.
No pressure.
