How Golf Works at the 2024 Summer Olympics
Despite the fact that we’re entering the third consecutive Olympic Games with golf on the docket, it still feels a little odd to mention golf and the Olympics in the same breath. A 112 year hiatus will do that. But with plenty of big name stars and dramatic finishes already on display since golf’s return in 2016, it seems that the sport is as strong as ever on this worldwide stage.
Key Points
- History: After first appearing in the 1900 and 1904 Olympic games, golf took a 112 year hiatus before returning in 2016
- Qualification: Qualifying for the Olympics centers around the Official World Golf Rankings, with the top 15 automatically making it in — with a limit of four per country — and the top two golfers from each country selected after that until a field of 60 is reached.
- Medal Winners: Since golf’s return in 2016, Great Britain’s Just Rose and USA’s Xander Schauffele have won gold medals
Paris 2024 Schedule
Men’s Competition
- Dates: August 1-4
- Location: Le Golf National, Saint Quentin en Yvelines
- US Team: Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Wyndham Clark, Collin Morikawa
Women’s Competition
- Dates: August 7-10
- Location: Le Golf National
- US Team: Nelly Korda, Lilia Vu, Rose Zhang
Olympic Golf Qualification Standards
The Olympic golf rankings are determined by the International Golf Federation, or IGF, which uses the Official World Golf Rankings for men, and Women’s World Golf Rankings for the women. The top 15 automatically qualify, but with a limit of four per country. After that the two highest-ranked players from countries that don’t already have two qualified players are chosen to fill out the field of 60. The host country is guaranteed one spot. The idea is that a lot of different countries will be represented, even with their two eligible players potentially falling outside of the top 200 in the world.
And so the reason the United States usually sends four players when most other countries only send two, is because they dominate the men’s rankings. In this case, Scheffler, Schauffele, Clark and Morikawa were ranked 1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th, respectively, at the cut-off date in mid June.
But, because the Official World Golf Rankings are used, that means golfers from LIV Golf generally won’t have enough points to qualify, despite Byson DeChambeau recently winning the U.S. Open for instance. The OWGR includes over 400 tournaments on over 20 tours, but because LIV is the only tour that plays 54 hole events instead of 72 holes, they can’t be factored in.
The Golf Competition
The Olympic program for golf varied a bit in its early years, but more on that in a minute. Since returning in 2016, the golf olympics competitions have consisted of individual stroke play golf tournaments for the men’s and women’s events, with the lowest score after four rounds winning the gold medal. Sudden death playoffs are used to determine solo second and third place in order to award silver and bronze medals as well.
The similarities in format to the PGA Tour and other major tours has been seen by some as a missed opportunity for golf, and they have urged the IGF and IOC – International Olympic Committee – to entertain other options like a team event, a match play tournament, or even a more accessible qualifying system to allow room for more golfers – mainly talented amateurs – to try and qualify.
Recent Medal Winners
For the return of golf to the summer Olympics in 2016, a new course was built in Rio de Janeiro specifically for the Games. Unfortunately, many of the world’s top male golfers like Jason Day, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy didn’t end up playing, citing the Zika virus epidemic. So representing Team USA was Patrick Reed, Rickie Fowler, Bubba Watson and Matt Kuchar.
Despite the missing faces, the men’s event was still led by two major winners with Justin Rose of Great Britain winning the gold medal and Sweden’s Henrik Stenson taking home silver. And in dramatic fashion, Kuchar fired a final-round 63 – tied for the low round of the tournament – to win the bronze medal for the USA.
On the women’s side, South Korea’s Inbee Park dominated her way to a gold medal by five shots, while Lydia Ko of New Zealand took silver and Shanshan Feng of China took bronze. American Stacy Lewis finished in a tie for fourth place.
For the 2020 summer Olympics in Tokyo, which were held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the golf took place at Kasumigaseki Country Club. The American men’s team consisted of Xander Schauffele, Justin Thomas, Patrick Reed and Collin Morikawa, with Schauffele winning the gold medal after shooting in the 60s all four rounds. Rory Sabbatini, representing Slovakia, took home a silver medal with a final round 61, and after a seven man sudden death playoff that included Rory McIlroy, Hideki Matsuyama and Morikawa, it was Chinese Taipei’s C. T. Pan who earned the bronze.
For the women’s tournament, Nelly Korda of Team USA also stayed in the 60s all four days to take home the gold, while Japan’s Mone Inami won silver and New Zealand’s Lydia Ko won the bronze after a playoff. Ko became the first person to win a medal in golf at back-to-back Olympic Games.
Golf’s History in the Olympics
While some have questioned if golf even belongs in the summer Olympics, it’s worth noting that golf first became an Olympic sport during the second edition of the modern Games in Paris in 1900, and can be considered among the first modern sports. For that year, the men played a two round stroke play golf tournament and the women played a nine hole golf tournament.
Early Olympic Golf:
- 1900 Paris: Men’s Gold – Charles Sands (USA), Women’s Gold – Margaret Abbott (USA)
- 1904 St. Louis: Men’s Gold – George Lyon (CAN), Silver – Chandler Egan (USA)
After failed attempts to hold tournaments in 1908 and again in 1920, Olympic golf competition officially fell off the radar until the decision was made to reinstate it in 2009. In the limited amount of times golf has been played in the Olympics, the USA leads with 13 total medals, including five gold. They will hope to find a similar success at Le Golf National in Paris in 2024.