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17th August 2016
01:51pm BST

The tweet could be in reference to the fact that McIlroy chose not to represent Ireland in the Olympics. At the time he attributed his decision to the Zika virus though many suspect the decision came after fallout between the golfer and Hickey over sponsorship. McIlory is currently contracted to Nike, which have a conflict with the Irish Team sponsors New Balance. "Before Rory decided whether he'd declare for Team GB or Ireland we put our team gear out to contract," Hickey said at the '100 days to Rio' event in Dublin. "Just in case he declared for us, we went to Nike in the UK and told them we might have Rory. But they just dismissed us out of hand and now they regret it, I believe. "I'm told the Nike guys nearly collapsed when they heard what happened and that they'd missed a golden opportunity. Rory's agent came to us and said, 'What about Nike?' And I said, 'What about them? They had the opportunity and they missed it.'"Just who could he be referring to in this now deleted tweet... pic.twitter.com/4E6gieJaDR
— Nathan Murphy (@nathanmurf) August 17, 2016
@SimonRace @McIlroyRory I think the timing gives away. Zika shmika, it was all about the sponsors
— The Duke of Fluke (@neilmccole) August 17, 2016
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