Olympics-Day, Scott reject criticism of Rio boycott

World number one Jason Day has hit back at critics of the golfers who have elected to skip the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. Golf's return to the Olympics for the first time since 1904 has been soured by the withdrawals of a number of top men's players, many of whom have cited health concerns due to the outbreak of the Zika virus in Brazil. Rio Games chief Carlos Nuzman told a media event in Rio over the weekend that top players had "tried to blame Zika, but the media have shown that they are not coming because there's no prize money." International Golf Federation President Peter Dawson also said there had been an "over-reaction" to the threat of Zika, a mosquito-borne virus that can cause potentially severe birth defects in babies whose mothers were infected during pregnancy.

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