Can Xander Schauffele replicate his gold-winning performance from the Tokyo Olympics?
The men’s golf tournament at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 gets underway on August 1-4 at Le Golf National, the course famous for hosting the 2018 Ryder Cup featuring 60 players representing over 32 countries including 9 of the world’s top 12 in the world rankings. Among them are the world’s top 3 ranked players – Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele who is defending the gold medal he won at the Tokyo Olympics.
Team India will be represented by European Tour winners Shubhankar Sharma and Gaganjeet Bhullar, with the former coming off a consistent run in Europe including a stellar 19th place finish at The Open Championship two weeks ago at Royal Troon.
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Noticeably absent from the field is Bryson DeChambeau, who won the U.S. Open and finished 2nd at the PGA Championship but has seen his world ranking drop out of the top 15 thanks to his move to the LIV Tour.
Men’s Olympics Golf field –
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The Paris Olympics, the 33rd edition of the multi-sport event, will host the golf competition for the third time since its re-inclusion at the 2016 Rio Olympics. In Rio, Justin Rose of England took the gold with Henrik Stenson of Sweden in 2nd place while in Tokyo, Schauffele took gold and silver went to Rory Sabbatini of Slovakia.
OWGR Points and Exemptions
According to the International Golf Federation (IGF), the gold medalist will earn 50 Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points. This is a significant opportunity for players primarily competing on the Asian and other regional tours, where such points are less accessible. Additionally, the men’s gold medalist will receive:
– Exemptions into all major championships for 2025
– Exemption into THE PLAYERS Championship 2025
– Exemption into The Sentry 2025, provided the gold medalist is a member of the PGA TOUR at the time of his victory in the Olympic Golf competition
Tournament Format
The competition will be played in a 72-hole format, similar to global tour events, without a cut after 36 holes. All 60 players in both the men’s and women’s fields will progress to the final two rounds.
Breaking Ties
Unique to the Olympics, ties must be broken not only to determine the winner but also to decide the silver and bronze medalists if necessary. For instance, if a player finishes in the gold-medal position with a score of 12 under, and two other players tie for second at 11 under, a playoff will determine who takes silver and who takes bronze.
Photo – TIME