The weight of Olympic opprobrium has borne down upon the shoulders of Adam Scott since the 2013 Masters champion announced this month he does not intend to participate in this summer's Rio Games.
Golf makes a controversial return to the Olympic programme for the first time since 1904, with many citing Scott's public decision to pull out of contention for the Australian team as further evidence as to why the sport is not deserving of its place.
Scott, who has long been a vocal opponent of Olympic inclusion, will be joined on the sidelines by Fiji's Vijay Singh, South African Louis Oosthuizen and probably a fair number of other top names because the roster is finalised in the coming months.
His withdrawal sparked a sarcastic response from Australia's quadruple swimming gold medallist Dawn Fraser, who quipped: "Well done, Adam. Great to put your country on hold so that you can fulfil your own schedule."
Yet Scott's honesty, not to mention the sensibly measured responses to Olympic queries aimed at the likes of Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy, perhaps deserves to be applauded in an era when the true thoughts of too many sports stars are hidden behind layers of glossy PR and hype.
At worst, they are guilty of vocalising what much of the rest of the sporting world already thinks: that any sport for which the Olympics is not the pinnacle of an athlete's career - see also tennis, football and basketball - holds a tenuous place on the programme at best.
Spieth is yet to fully commit to Rio, conceding it will take a number of cycles of golf being back on the Olympic programme before the true worth of an Olympic gold medal within the sport can be properly determined.
McIlroy has been a little more enthusiastic, publicly committing to play for Ireland and admitting it would be an "incredible thrill" to win gold.
And the sport's case is hardly helped by the fact that its very own Usain Bolt-style talisman, Tiger Woods, will miss out on even reaching the Games due to his less-than-impressive form over the course of the qualifying cycle.
One significant barrier to attracting top stars could be the 72-hole strokeplay format, which has met with weary acceptance among some of the most vocal, pro-Rio big names, although there is already a move to bring in an alternative format in time for Tokyo 2020.
When golf was contested at the 1900 and 1904 games, it took the form of a week-long matchplay event, as well as a separate team competition - all the gold medals being won by the United States.
Fans of golf's return to the Games will be heartened by the responses of leading players like Henrik Stenson and Martin Kaymer, both of whom expressed enthusiasm when quizzed about the prospect in Abu Dhabi in January.
Kaymer indicated that at this stage of his career he would prefer a gold medal to a major, while Stenson added : " 'It's always special when you play the Ryder Cup, you represent your continent and your country, and in the Olympics you represent your country."
Source: PA
