AKRON, Ohio -- Shane Lowry of Ireland says if the Olympics were anywhere other than Rio de Janeiro, he would be the first to show up. Instead, he is the sixth golfer to withdraw because of the Zika virus.Lowry, who got married in April, said he wants to start a family and soon and he received firm me

AKRON, Ohio -- Shane Lowry of Ireland says if the Olympics were anywhere other than Rio de Janeiro, he would be the first to show up. Instead, he is the sixth golfer to withdraw because of the Zika virus.Lowry, who got married in April, said he wants to start a family and soon and he received firm medical advice from doctors in Dublin that he should not go to Rio. He joins Rory McIlroy as the top two Irish golfers who wont be in the Olympics because of Zika concerns.That means Padraig Harrington at No. 159 in the world and Seamus Power (No. 283) would play for the Irish flag in Rio.Theres too much of a gray area for me, Lowry said. Theres not a 100 percent way of saying you have it or you dont have it when you get back, so thats a problem for me and my wife, especially. If I came back from Rio and was able to say 100 percent that I didnt have it? Then it might be a different story.Lowry said he read all the material from the PGA Tour and European Tour and met specialists in Dublin.They left it to me, he said. But they advised me that if I went to them and said I was going to Rio on a holiday, they would advise me not to go. It was our decision. It was a tough decision to make. Because I wanted to go.Others who have withdrawn specifically because of Zika are Jason Day, Charl Schwartzel, Branden Grace and Marc Leishman. Lowry said if he were single, that potentially would change his plans. And if the Olympics were elsewhere?One hundred percent, Id be there. Id be the first person there, he said. I was going for the whole lot and planning to stay on afterward. But Im recently married, were thinking about starting a family and its not ideal to be going places like that.Four other golfers already have pulled out for reasons beyond Zika, such as a crammed schedule. Lowry believes the threat of Zika has to be considered more for golf than most other sports.We do seem to be more at risk, he said. Were on the golf course for six hours a day, seven hours a day. Other athletes are in a stadium. This is just my opinion, but other athletes have been training four and eight years to go to Olympics. I can see why theyre going. Its the pinnacle of their sport. Its not the pinnacle of golf yet. It could be in 20 years time.On Wednesday, speaking ahead of the Open de France, McIlroy said he has no regrets about his decision to skip the Rio Olympics.I have four Olympic Games [major championships] a year, he said. Thats my pinnacle. Thats what I play for. Cheap Custom Packers Jersey . PAUL, Minn. Custom Rashan Gary Jersey .J. -- New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz will miss the rest of the season after having surgery on his left knee. http://www.custompackersjersey.com/ . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. Custom Packers Jerseys . Dukurs winning time was 1 minute, 45.76 seconds, a quarter-second better than Russias Alexander Tretiakov. Lativas Tomass Dukurs was third, 1.41 seconds off the pace. Jon Montgomery of Eckville, Alta. Packers Jerseys China . 1 position. The Mustangs (6-0), who beat Queens 50-31 last weekend, earned 17 first-place votes and 287 points in voting by the Football Reporters of Canada. Western was last ranked first in the country in October 2011. Sri Lanka coach Graham Ford, who has previously praised Kusal Pereras technique, described Kusal Mendis 176 as one of the best hes seen, and said the batsmans temperament had impressed him as well. At the end of day four, Mendis innings still appears a monumental anomaly in a match in which the next highest score is 47.What can you say? Its one of the best innings Ive ever seen, Ford said. It was. He seemed to have a plan - and option - against all the bowlers. He showed real composure. The odd one did explode and turn on him but he didnt bother about the previous delivery. He just focused on the next ball and got on with the job. He is an amazing talent. He works really hard and really loves the game.Mendis innings was anomalous because of its tempo, as well as its size. Of top-order batsmen to breach 30 in this Test, no one else has had a strike rate of over 60. With his innings only spanning 254 balls, Mendis struck at 69. It is also anomalous in the context of his brief career so far - his previous highest in Tests had been 53 in Leeds.Hes batted at no. 3 in all formats across the last couple of months, and shown wonderful maturity, Ford said. Hes shown signs each time of the possibility of making big scores. There have been really exciting cameos each time,, but fortunately now hes got one of those big innings under his belt, it will hopefully lead to a lot more.ddddddddddddHe also just seems an extremely relaxed young man. Nothing really fazes him. He enjoys playing and he cant wait to get out there and bat. Doesnt seem to show any signs of nerves. He plays positively and plays his shots. He went to his hundred with a six - no nervous nineties. He definitely puts a lot of thought into it. He works hard. But theres no signs of him being too bothered, or worried about failure, which is quite a nice way of going about his business.Since debuting against West Indies in October last year, Mendis has largely filled the no. 3 position vacated by Kumar Sangakkara. Had you still had the Sangas and the Mahela Jayawardenes, Kusal would have ideally been blooded at no. 6 or 7, Ford said. But without anybody really putting their hand up to grab that no. 3 spot, we thought he was the guy to get in and had the technique to handle it. Each time he went out there he looked like he had real capabilities to become a world-class and match-winning no. 3. So we decided to run with him and hes paid us back. ' ' '