SABBATINI Rory

General
REPRESENTING SLOVAKIA
He was born in Durban, South Africa and represented his nation of birth at multiple international events. He has also held a passport for the United Kingdom and holds citizenship in the United States of America. In December 2018 he gained Slovakian citizenship through his second wife, Martina Stofanikova, and represented his new nation for the first time at the Hawaii Open in January 2019. His wife's cousin, Rastislav Antal, was serving as vice president of the Slovak Golf Association and suggested he make the switch. "Her cousin [Antal] came up with the idea. This decision was never made to play in the Olympics. This decision was made to support my wife and stepson, and to open the door for golf development in Slovakia. The Olympics or anything else was never the focus of it. I actually didn't even know I'd be eligible for the Olympics. The added benefit is [Antal] is the director of golf development in Slovakia and we thought this is an opportunity to bring more kids into the game of golf, because they really haven't had exposure on an international stage to really have someone to follow in golf. They have a lot of hockey players, skiers, tennis players, all sports. But nobody in golf." (mytwocents.co.za, 15 Sep 2020; golfdigest.com, 30 Dec 2018; pgatour.com, 09 Jan 2019; sport24.co.za, 12 Jan 2019)

After switching nationality to Slovakia he became the first golfer representing Slovakia to play on the PGA Tour when he competed at the Hawaii Open in January 2019. (golfdigest.com, 30 Dec 2018; pgatour.com, 09 Jan 2019)