capybara RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – AUGUST 08: A capybara crosses a fairway during a practice round during Day 3 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at Olympic Golf Course on August 8, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images)

As if the Olympic golf tournament needed another headache, the course is now dealing with an infestation of capybaras.

With a return to the Olympic games for the first time in 100-plus years it was supposed to be a time for celebration. Instead, many of the best players in the world have opted to skip the event amidst concerns over the Zika virus or their own commitments.

Now we all find out that as the tournament is set to get underway on Thursday, the athletes have found themselves having to deal with an abundance of the world’s largest rodent — the capybara.

Perhaps it shouldn’t be too surprising, as the capybara is native to South America and can be found in large quantities in certain regions of Brazil. Just how big of a problem are the animals to the golf tournament? Try being a 4.5 feet long, 100 pound problem.

capybara
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – AUGUST 09: Sergio Garcia of Spain and Bernd Wiesberger of Austria taking photos of a capybara on the 5th hole during a practice at Olympic Golf Course on August 9, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)

United States golfer Rickie Fowler isn’t a fan of them, but also knows the animals are part of the natural habitat that the course is built around.

“It’s a decent-sized animal. I wouldn’t want to get in a fight with it, that’s for sure. There’s some caimans cruising around and I’m definitely going to stay away from them. It’s cool. Like I said, they have done a great job with the golf course, keeping somewhat of the natural habitat – if I was capybara, I mean, I’d love to live there at the Olympic course.”

It isn’t as if golfers haven’t encountered natural habitats and problematic animals in the past or anything.

Just look at courses in Florida, where alligators can be a common problem, or the load of bad bug problems that can creep up in humid places throughout the Midwest and East Coast during the summer months.

Perhaps we’ll have more to report on this tournament than just the results should one of these mammoth rodents take on a role over the next four or five days.

[Fox Sports]

About Andrew Coppens

Andy is a contributor to The Comeback as well as Publisher of Big Ten site talking10. He also is a member of the FWAA and has been covering college sports since 2011. Andy is an avid soccer fan and runs the Celtic FC site The Celtic Bhoys. If he's not writing about sports, you can find him enjoying them in front of the TV with a good beer!