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With the fallout from Colin Montgomerie’s decision to withdraw from the Chevron World Challenge — a tournament slated to be held in Saudi Arabia in November — far reaching, ahead of the 2011 Masters and then the return of the Ryder Cup later in the year, the golf world is once again grumbling about the country’s oppressive policies toward women.
But Rory McIlroy, the world No. 4, defended the decision of the men’s major winners to continue playing in the Saudi Golf Association event on Thursday. In an interview with Golf Channel, he said it was simply a matter of personal choice.
“I’m not going to just go play in what I don’t believe in just because of somebody’s stance or their views,” McIlroy said. “If there is a firm decision I don’t think I can play in it, then I won’t play in it.”
It should also be noted that even if Montgomerie has not changed his mind, the event itself is widely expected to be reduced in scope: McIlroy said, as The Guardian recently reported, that he would expect the focus on the tournament to be “just golf,” a step he said was “I’m assuming the same thing will happen with all of the other events.”