Wednesday 11 May 2016 07:25, UK
PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem believes there is an enthusiasm for Olympic golf despite the withdrawal of several top players.
Finchem says that golf will be in good shape heading into this year's Rio Games, where he predicts "a superb Olympics".
Former world number ones Adam Scott and Vijay Singh, and fellow major winners Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel, are among those who have already announced that they will skip this summer's global sports showpiece in Rio de Janeiro.
Those no-shows, for reasons ranging from schedule issues to concern over the Zika virus, have sparked fears that more players could follow suit but Finchem felt there was generally "a real enthusiasm" for the Olympics in professional golf.
"It's a combination of things, really," Finchem said ahead of this week's Players Championship at Sawgrass when asked about player withdrawals from the Rio Games.
"[It] starts with a compacted season, affects the players in different ways, the way that the [PGA Tour schedule] changes were for the season this year.
"Part of it is prioritisation, I would admit, although I think in general there's a real enthusiasm, certainly for the concept of golf in the Olympics."
With the Olympic men's golf competition to be played from August 11-14, the year's final major, the PGA Championship, has been brought forward to late July from its traditional date in the second week of August.
