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TROON, Scotland -- So much for golfs triumphant return to the Olympics.Any hope of Rio hosting a mens tournament that anyone beyond the hardcore aficionado will give a flip about took a knockout blow Monday when the last of the Big Four, Jordan Spieth, delivered his regrets to the powers that run international golf.Its certainly disappointing, said Peter Dawson, head of a world governing body that was essentially created to get golf back in the Olympics for the first time since 1904. There is no doubt that the number of withdrawals hasnt shed golf in the best light.What an understatement.Now that Spieth has followed the lead of Jason Day, Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy, Rio will be putting on a mens tournament roughly equivalent to the John Deere Classic, missing the top four-ranked players in the world and seven of the leading 15.Come to think of it, the John Deere might have an edge on the Olympics, since that second-tier PGA Tour event will be played the same week as the Olympics. Spieth, the defending champion, suddenly has an opening on his schedule. If he shows up in the Quad Cities, it would only add to golfs gold medal fiasco.How did we get to this point?Theres plenty of blame to go around, from skittish golfers who latched on to the threat of the Zika to justify their decisions to tone-deaf executives who made a mess of this years schedule, cramming too many important tournaments into too short of a time period.Lets start with the players.While its hard to blame anyone for citing health concerns as a reason to skip the Olympics, and the dangers of Zika are undeniable to those who want to have children, the mosquito-borne virus is clearly much less of a threat during the Brazilian winter.Also, as Dawson wryly noted in what appeared to be an underhanded shot at those who backed out, we havent lost a greenskeeper yet at the new course constructed in Rio.Asked to expand on that assessment, the vice president of the International Golf Federation, Ty Votaw, confirmed that no one associated with the course -- from hundreds of construction workers to those now charged with keeping it in top condition -- has been diagnosed with Zika.Personally, I think theres been something of an over-reaction to the Zika situation, Dawson said.Hes got a point, especially when one considers that all the top female players will be in Rio, some of them surely planning to start families of their own someday.Then again, its easy to see why theres such a divide between the sexes. The men never seemed to be all that thrilled about adding the Olympics to their already crowded schedules. The women embraced the chance to elevate their sport beyond its niche status.When the threat of Zika came along, it provided a convenient excuse for those who may not have wanted to go to the Olympics in the first place.I dont know if golf has its place in the Olympics, said Zach Johnson, the reigning British Open champion who didnt qualify for one of the four U.S. spots in Rio. I didnt dream of winning a gold medal in golf as a kid. It wasnt an option.Johnson makes the point -- and its a good one -- that the Olympics should be reserved for sports such as swimming and gymnastics and wrestling, the ones that dont get a lot of attention outside of their every-four-years moment in the spotlight.No offense to the Olympics, Johnson said, but Id rather be on the Ryder Cup team.A more legitimate complaint -- and maybe this is what some players were stewing on all along -- was the ludicrous schedule imposed on them this year, beginning with this weeks British Open at Royal Troon.The PGA Championship is two weeks later, followed by the Olympics two weeks after that, with lesser tournaments crammed in along the way. Two weeks after Rio, the FedEx Cup playoff begins, with four high-stakes tournaments in five weeks, culminating with the Tour Championship.And, oh yeah, thats followed the very next week by the Ryder Cup.Adjustments were made to the schedule for this year, Votaw insisted. People can debate as to how effectual those changes have been in terms of putting this event in the middle of the schedule.Actually, no debate is necessary.The PGA Championship should have been moved to a more accommodating spot -- later in the year, at the very least, or more radically to a date ahead of the Masters, which wouldnt have been a complete break with tradition. In 1971, the PGA was shifted to February to escape the oppressive summer heat in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.That would have required a warm-weather site -- Baltusrol, this years host in New Jersey, clearly wouldnt have worked -- but golf had seven years to get its house in order before Rio.In that regard, it failed miserably.But lets not feel sorry for a group of pampered players who fly around the world on private jets, their every whim catered to, their bank accounts brimming with millions of dollars. They couldve squeezed in an extra week of golf if they really wanted to.They play most weeks of the year not at major championships, Dawson said. I just dont think it actually matters at this point whether they regard (the Olympics) as much as a major or not, frankly. It doesnt stop them going to play other tournaments.No matter what, golf is heading to Rio as an afterthought, sure to face more questions about why its even there than whos winning gold, silver and bronze.Thats an issue that will get a good, hard look next year from the International Olympic Committee, which will decide the sports that stay on the program beyond the 2020 Tokyo Games.That means golf is assured of one more chance.But after this fiasco, the IOC should already be looking for a sport that really wants to be there in 2024.Ballroom dancing, anyone?---Paul Newberry is a national writer for The Associated Press. Write to him at pnewberry(at)ap.org or at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963 . 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Born and raised in Toronto, Bradwell is entering his sixth CFL season, with all six played for his hometown Argonauts. TOKYO -- International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach expressed willingness Tuesday to work with Tokyo officials to try to reduce spiraling cost estimates for the 2020 Summer Games.Bach arrived in Japan amid growing tension between Olympic organizers and recently elected Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike and her push to cuts costs. He declined to discuss specific proposals, saying he only knew about them from media reports.The Tokyo metropolitan government will finalize its internal study, then well discuss it with the other stakeholders ... and then I am confident that you will see a significant reduction in the cost compared to what we have seen so far from the press, Bach told reporters after a 40-minute televised meeting with Koike.After her election at the end of July, Koike convened a panel of independent experts to review Olympic venues and costs.Its most drastic proposal has been to suggest moving the rowing and canoeing venue to northern Japan, after the estimated cost for the planned site rose to seven times more than the initial estimate.The local organizing committee in Tokyo has objected to the possible change, arguing the competition should remain at the plannned Sea Forest Waterway.ddddddddddddIt said the existing facility that Koike proposes using in Miyagi prefecture lacks infrastructure, accommodation for spectators and will be inconvenient for athletes.Tokyo organizers also said the final construction cost for the Sea Forest Waterway will likely be lower than estimated, while additional costs for transportation, security and infrastructure to move the events to Miyagi would add up.Already, the venues for basketball, taekwondo and cycling have been moved outside of Tokyo to reduce costs by using existing facilities. Cycling was moved to Izu, about 90 miles (145 kilometers) southwest of the capital.Tokyo won the right to host the games in 2013 by promising a compact bid with 28 of the 31 competition venues within a five-mile (eight-kilometer) radius of the Olympic Village. Originally, only shooting, modern pentathlon and one soccer venue were to be outside the radius.---Follow Mari Yamaguchi at https://www.twitter.com/mariyamaguchiFind her work also at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/mari-yamaguchi ' ' '