From golf's biggest names to up-and-coming stars, golfers from around the world are eyeing Olympic glory on the world's biggest sporting stage. Here are five things to know about golf in Paris in 2024.
Two weeks, two games
From Scottie Scheffler to Charley Hull, golf fans will see the game's leading names compete for gold, silver and bronze medals over the two-week tournament.
The men's Olympic golf competition will be held from August 1 to 4, and the women's golf competition will be held from August 7 to 10.
With 32 nations competing in the men's and 33 nations competing in the women's Olympic golf competition, this field provides an opportunity for the sport to further expand its global reach across six continents.
Each tournament will be played in the 72-hole stroke-play format that sports fans are familiar with each week. The lowest cumulative scorer will receive a gold medal, second place will receive a silver medal, and third place will receive a bronze medal. In the event of a tie in any of the places, a play-off will be held.
All rounds will be played in groups of three. The third and fourth rounds will be grouped according to the cumulative score at the end of the previous round, with the leader (lowest cumulative score) teeing off last.
Par for the men's tournament is 71 (7,174 yards) and par for the women's tournament is 72 (6,374 yards).
Elite players of the competition
As of Monday, July 29, eight of the top 10 players in the Official World Golf Ranking have teed off in France, and 13 of the top 15 women have teed off in France.
On the men's side, world number one Scheffler leads a strong team of four Americans, including defending Olympic gold medalist Xander Schauffele and fellow major champions Collin Morikawa and Wyndham Clark.
Other notable players include Rory McIlroy, who is teaming up with Shane Lowry for Ireland, and Tommy Fleetwood, who is teaming up with Matt Fitzpatrick for Britain, while local hopes lie with Frenchmen Matthieu Pavon and Victor Perez.
Ludvig Åberg can look forward to adding another Olympic appearance to his growing resume as he joins Alex Noren in representing Sweden, while global superstars Jason Day and Min Woo Lee wear the green and gold for Australia.
Other household names competing in the men's event include Norway's Viktor Hovland, Spain's Jon Rahm and Japan's Hideki Matsuyama.
On the women's side, the United States once again has world No. 1 and defending gold medalist Nelly Korda, and she is joined by Lilia Vu and Rose Zhang.
There are high hopes for Swedish duo Maja Stark and Linn Grant and Australian pair Hannah Green and Minjee Lee, while Britain’s Hull and Georgia Hall are experienced players on the sport’s biggest stage.
In the women's competition, France's rising star is Celine Boutier, while Canada's Brooke Henderson, Thailand's Patty Tavatanakit and New Zealand's Lydia Ko are all well-known world-class names.
One of the most famous golf courses in Europe
Le Golf National, the host venue for the next two weeks, needs no introduction.
The course opened on October 5, 1990, was designed by Hubert Chesneau and Robert Von Hagge, and was renovated in 2016 by European Golf Design (EGD) under the supervision of Chesneau in preparation for the 2018 Ryder Cup.
Since 1991, it has hosted nearly 30 editions of the French national open tournament, the FedEx French Open.
But it became even more famous in 2018 after hosting the Ryder Cup, golf's biggest team tournament.
With water hazards on 10 of the holes, it requires strategy and precision to achieve a good score, and is considered one of the toughest tasks a player faces on the DP World Tour.
A new venue for women’s golf, the Albatros course is designed as a natural amphitheater and features a daunting finish that encounters water on three of the final four holes.
Full of drama, with more than 30,000 spectators expected to fill each game, the gold medal battle will be equally suspenseful and exciting.
Olympic Golf
Golf made its debut in 1900 and 1904, and this year marks the third consecutive time that golf has been included as an event at the Paris Olympics.
After an absence of 112 years, the event returned to Rio in 2016, when Justin Rose scored the first hole-in-one in Olympic history in the opening round to beat Sweden's Henrik Stenson to win the gold medal for Britain. In the women's competition, Inbee Park shot a final-round 66 to help the South Korean win by five shots.
Five years later in Tokyo, American players Schauffele and Korda tasted the sweetness of Olympic victory, both winning by one stroke at Kasumigaseki Country Club.
Just behind Schauffele in the medal race was Rory Sabatini, who won silver with an Olympic record 63, while CT Pan of Chinese Taipei won a seven-man playoff with McIlroy and Morikawa to take bronze.
Joining Korda on the podium were Japan's Inami Mone and New Zealand's Ke Wenzhe, with Inami Mone winning the two-person play-off.
Xander Schauffele wins 2020 Tokyo Olympics gold with -18
The champion will receive generous rewards
There is nothing like the thrill of playing for your country. There are very few such experiences in professional golf.
For the lucky few who win the coveted Olympic medal, the honor is even greater.
Gold medalists will receive additional benefits. Men's Olympic competitors will qualify for all four majors through 2025, while the women's Olympic golf champion will qualify for the next five majors.
The men’s champion will also receive an exemption to next year’s Players Championship and potentially earn an exemption to Kapalua’s signature event, the Sentry Tournament of Champions, provided he is a member of the PGA Tour at the time of his victory.
Women's gold medalists receive one LPGA Hall of Fame point, compared to two points for major champions. You need 27 points to enter the Hall of Fame, a select club that includes International Golf Federation president and 10-time major champion Annika Sorenstam.
Oh, and both tournaments will also involve valuable world ranking points.
