Olympic golf is back for the third time since its reinstatement into the games in 2016, and the men’s action is set to commence at Le Golf National on Thursday. First played in Paris in 1900 and again in St. Louis in 1904, Olympic golf took a 112-year hiatus before returning to the schedule in Rio and Tokyo for the postponed 2021 games.
The Paris 2024 golf competition will feature Xander Schauffele, the defending gold medalist looking to secure another title just two weeks after winning The Open, his second major championship victory this season. The world No. 1 and tournament favorite Scottie Scheffler will also represent Team USA at the Olympics, and he’ll hope to grab his seventh win of the 2024 golf season. Spain’s Jon Rahm, Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, Sweden’s Ludvig Åberg, the USA’s Collin Morikawa and Norway’s Viktor Hovland are also considered strong favorites to medal.
The field includes 60 players from 32 countries who qualified for the event via the Official World Golf Rankings. The top 15 players in the world automatically qualify, but each country is limited to four players per flag — this year’s competition includes the top seven and 10 of the top 15. Outside of the top 15, the top two golfers from each country are invited to the Olympics until the 60-man field is full. The women’s tournament will begin next week, with the same qualifying system. The host venue, Le Golf National’s Albatros Course, is 26 miles from the Olympic Village and hosted the 2018 Ryder Cup, where the Europeans defeated the Americans 17.5-10.5. It also hosts the DP World Tour’s Open de France, which will be played in mid-October.
Schedule
The first round of the men’s stroke play tournament will be played on Thursday starting at 9 a.m. local time (3 a.m. ET). The second, third and fourth rounds will be played in the same time slot, with Sunday’s final round extending until 12:30 p.m. ET for the medal ceremony.
How to watch
TV: Golf Channel in the U.S. BBC Sport in the U.K.
Streaming: Peacock in the U.S. BBC Sport in the U.K.
Who’s on Team USA
Scheffler headlines Team USA as the top-ranked player in the world. The two-time Masters champion will make his Olympic debut in Paris, looking to take home his 12th worldwide victory. Scheffler, 28, is coming off of a T7 finish at last month’s Open Championship at Royal Troon, his 12th top-10 finish in a major and 14th top 10 this season.
Schauffele wants to add a third victory to his 2024 season and successfully defend the gold medal in Paris. In 2020, Schauffele defeated Rory Sabbatini (Slovakia) by one shot. With wins at the PGA Championship at Valhalla and The Open in Scotland, Schauffele became just the 16th player to hoist two major trophies in one season. The 30-year-old hails from San Diego and boasts nine career PGA Tour victories.
Forever a gold medalist. 🥇@XSchauffele is a proud Olympian. #OlympicGolf pic.twitter.com/Zfr9yYr2nt
— Olympic Golf (@OlympicGolf) July 30, 2024
Morikawa, the No. 6 ranked player in the world, represents Team USA in the Olympics for the second time. At the Tokyo games, Morikawa joined six other players in a sudden-death playoff for the bronze medal, which C.T. Pan ultimately won. The 27-year-old Morikawa has put together one of the strongest major championship seasons of his career, finishing T3 at the Masters, T4 at the PGA, T14 at the U.S. Open and T16 at The Open.
Wyndham Clark, 30, rounds out the Team USA golf representation at the Paris games. The 2023 U.S. Open champion is ranked fifth in the world. He won his first event on the PGA Tour in 2023 at the Wells Fargo Championship and won his maiden major championship just over a month later at Los Angeles Country Club. The current U.S. Open champion, Bryson DeChambeau, did not qualify for the Olympics. Despite his major victory this season, DeChambeau is a member of LIV Golf, where tournaments are not recognized by the Official World Golf Ranking, and he ended the Olympic qualifying period as the fifth-best American player in the standings.
Key storylines
Schauffele and Scheffler’s battle for PGA Tour Player of the Year honors will be an intriguing storyline heading into this event, which, unlike other Olympic sports, resembles just about every other week on the PGA Tour with its four-day stroke play format. A gold medal for either the No. 1 or 2 player in the world would significantly add to each of their resumes. Schauffele has two majors under his belt in 2024, while Scheffler has one (the Masters) and five PGA Tour wins.
All eyes will also be on Rory McIlroy, who skipped the Rio Olympics in 2016 and joined Morikawa in the seven-man bronze medal playoff in 2020. After a disappointing missed cut at The Open and a heartbreaking close call against DeChambeau at the U.S. Open at Pinehurst, McIlroy’s performance in Paris could serve as the redemption that he desperately needs. In a press conference at Le Golf National this week, McIlroy explained how an Olympic gold medal would add to his legacy and change the narrative of his 10-year-long major drought.
“It would be the achievement, certainly of the year … for me, it’s well documented that I haven’t won one of the big four in 10 years. It would probably be one if, if not the biggest in my career for the last 10 years,” he said.
France’s Matthieu Pavon will be the local hero this week at the Albatros Course. The 31-year-old from Toulouse, France is coming off his best professional season yet as a PGA Tour rookie — his first tour victory was at the Farmers Insurance Open in February.
“After a few days in the Olympic Village, the Opening Ceremony in Paris with all the crowds in front of the Eiffel Tower and all the great moments the last few days, it really feels like a gold medal would be now ranked higher than a major for me,” he said.
Tee times
(All times local)
• 9:00 a.m./10:55 a.m. — Victor Perez (France), Matti Schmid (Germany), C.T. Pan (Chinese Taipei)
• 9:11 a.m./11:06 a.m. — Thorbjørn Olesen (Denmark), Alejandro Tosti (Argentina), Joaquin Niemann (Chile)
• 9:22 a.m./11:17 a.m. — Emiliano Grillo (Argentina), Alex Noren (Sweden), Ryan Fox (New Zealand)
• 9:33 a.m./11:33 a.m. — Min Woo Lee (Australia) Corey Conners (Canada), Christiaan Bezuidenhout (South Africa)
• 9:44 a.m./11:44 a.m. — Wyndham Clark (USA), Hideki Matsuyama (Japan), Tommy Fleetwood (Great Britain)
• 9:55 a.m./11:55 a.m. — Sepp Straka (Austria), Jason Day (Australia), Tom Kim (Korea)
• 10:11 a.m./12:06 p.m. — Scottie Scheffler (USA), Rory McIlroy (Ireland), Ludvig Åberg (Sweden)
• 10:22 a.m./12:17 p.m. — Adrien Dumont de Chassart (Belgium), Daniel Hillier (New Zealand), Guido Migliozzi (Italy)
• 10:33 a.m./12:28 p.m. — Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Thailand), Gavin Green (Malaysia), Gaganjeet Bhullar (India)
• 10:44 a.m./12:39 p.m. — Phachara Khongwatmai (Thailand), Abraham Ancer (Mexico), Dou Zecheng (China)
• 10:55 a.m./9:00 a.m. — Yuan Yechun (China), Camilo Villegas (Colombia), Matteo Manassero (Italy)
• 11:06 a.m./9:11 a.m. — Adrian Meronk (Poland), Sami Valimaki (Finland), David Puig (Spain)
• 11:17 a.m./9:22 a.m. — Erik van Rooyen (South Africa), Keita Nakajima (Japan), Kevin Yu (Chinese Taipei)
• 11:33 a.m./9:33 a.m. — Stephan Jaeger (Germany), Nicolai Højgaard (Denmark), Thomas Detry (Belgium)
• 11:44 a.m./9:44 a.m. — Byeong Hun An (Korea), Shane Lowry (Ireland), Nick Taylor (Canada)
• 11:55 a.m./9:55 a.m. — Xander Schauffele (USA), Viktor Hovland (Norway), Jon Rahm (Spain)
• 12:06 p.m./10:11 a.m. — Matthieu Pavon (France), Collin Morikawa (USA), Matt Fitzpatrick (Great Britain)
• 12:17 p.m./10:22 a.m. — Shubhankar Sharma (India), Rafael Campos (Puerto Rico), Carlos Ortiz (Mexico)
• 12:28 p.m./10:33 a.m. — Nico Echavarria (Colombia), Mito Pereira (Chile), Kris Ventura (Norway)
• 12:39 p.m./10:44 a.m. — Fabrizio Zanotti (Paraguay), Joel Girrbach (Switzerland), Tapio Pulkkanen (Finland)
(Photos of Rory McIlroy, left, and Matt Fitzpatrick: Andrew Redington / Getty Images)