Who will play for USA’s men’s golf team at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris?
As is the case with many other sports, golf will be featured at this summer’s Olympics in Paris, and with that, we’re looking at who’s qualified for Team USA.
With the 2024 Paris Games almost upon us, Olympic qualifying is truly underway. As you likely know, the qualification timeline and process is different for every sport, such that some athletes have already earned their spots on the U.S. Olympic team, while many more are still to be named in the coming weeks as Olympic Trials and the end of the qualification period approach.
Who’s qualified for Team U.S.A. in golf?
Before we get to who’s in and who’s not, it’s important to understand the process of selection. The qualification period for golf ends on June 17 for men and June 24 for women. As for how they are selected, players automatically qualify based on the International Golf Federation’s world ranking list at that time. To be clear, there are only four slots available to men and women for the golf team in Paris. Assuming each of those eight are within the top 15 players in the world when qualification ends, they will be off to Paris for the Olympics.
Of course, this is where it gets tricky for Team U.S.A., and here’s why. Given that the Olympic golf fields are limited to 60 men and women for their respective four-round tournaments, and as mentioned before, they can only send four players, there will have to be some tough choices to be made with six of the men’s current top 10 being American according to the latest Olympic Golf Rankings. As of this week, the four that would be representing the U.S.A. in the men’s category are Scottie Scheffler (No. 1), Xander Schauffele (No. 3), Wyndham Clark (No. 4), and Collin Morikawa (No. 7), however, Max Homa (No. 9), Brian Harman (No. 10) and Sahith Theegala (No. 12) are all within touching distance. It’s also important to consider the order of alternates given that there is no guarantee all four U.S. qualifiers would choose to play. As for the women, Tokyo gold medalist Nelly Korda (No. 1) along with Lilia Vu (No. 2), Rose Zhang (No. 6), and Megan Khang (No. 15) are currently on track to represent the United States.
Ultimately, there is still quite a bit of golf to be played between now and when the Games begin, but it’s worth noting that some in the field are already thinking about it. Indeed, prior to his surprising arrest at Valhalla in Louisville, Kentucky on Friday, world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler quipped about participation saying he “definitely” wants to be part of Team U.S.A. at this summer’s Paris Olympics. “It’d be a nice little thing to be able to trash talk my buddies about when they say golfers aren’t athletes, and I can claim I’m an Olympian,” Scheffler said with a smile.