Dustin Johnson decides again not to go to Japan for Olympics

<p>PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla &mdash; One year later didn’t make Dustin Johnson change his mind. He’s not going to the Olympics.</p>
<p>Johnson didn’t want to go to Tokyo a year ago, before the COVID-19 pandemic led to a one-year delay, because of a crammed summer schedule and his desire to stay fresh for the PGA Tour’s postseason that culminates with the FedEx Cup.</p>
<p>He won the FedEx Cup and its $15 million prize for the first time.</p>
<p>Johnson said he didn’t put forward his name to be among the maximum of four Americans who can play in the Olympics. The Masters champion is No. 1 in the world. Countries can have as many as four players provided they are among the top 15 in the world ranking on June 21, the day after the U.S. Open.</p>
<p>Johnson is no longer part of the <a href="https://www.igfgolf.org/tokyo-2020-olympic-golf-rankings"> Olympic </a> ranking.</p>
<p>“I really didn’t think much about it. I actually didn’t really ever decide whether I was going to play or not, I just didn’t sign up,” Johnson said Saturday. “But it’s right in the middle of a big stretch of golf for me, so that was the reason I was kind of waffling on it a little bit.”</p>
<p>The men’s competition starts on July 29. That’s 11 days after the British Open at Royal St. George’s in England, and a World Golf Championship, which Johnson has won, is the week after the Olympics.</p>
<p>Two weeks later, the PGA Tour stages three straight postseason events ending with the Tour Championship. And three weeks later, he has the Ryder Cup.</p>
<p>“It’s a long way to travel,” Johnson said. “It’s a lot of traveling at a time where it’s important for me to feel like I’m focused playing on the PGA Tour.”</p>
<p>Johnson said he might have thought more about playing if there was more space in the schedule.</p>
<p>He signed up for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, golf’s return after a 112-year absence, only to pull out along with several others over concerns about the Zika virus.</p>
<p>Jon Rahm currently is the No. 1 player in the Olympic ranking, with every intention of going for Spain.</p>
<p>“It’s an honor to be an Olympian. That’s all I can say,” Rahm said. “As long as I can compete, I’ll be there.”</p>
<p>Even with Johnson playing, the Americans still have 10 other players among the top 15 with three months — and three majors — remaining before qualifying ends.</p>
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