Olympic qualifying highlights, US Open subplots – Article

By Mathieu Wood

The U.S. Open gets underway this week at Pinehurst No. 2, and along with all the excitement comes an interesting subplot: The players have one last chance to qualify for this summer's Olympics.

The two-year rolling qualifying campaign has set the stage for the third men's major of the season, with the Olympic entry – limited to the top 60 players in the Olympic Golf Ranking (OGR) – finalised on Monday 17 June.

The OGR top 60 will be made up of up to 4 participants from each of the top 15 countries, and up to 2 participants from each of the top 60 countries overall.

With a week until the qualifying deadline and one major to go, players will be in the final sprint to compete for the right to represent their country at Le Golf National later this summer.

Now, let’s take a look at some of the more fascinating storylines that unfolded in North Carolina this week.

Who will headline Team USA alongside Scheffler and Schauffele?

Heading into the penultimate men’s major of the year, the American team has four players ranked in the top 15 of the OGR.

World number one Scottie Scheffler and defending Olympic champion Xander Schauffele occupy the top two spots in the OGR, unmatched.

However, the third and fourth spots are still to be determined. While defending U.S. Open champion Windham Clark appears to be on track to make his Olympic debut, with in-form two-time major champion Collin Morikawa set to join him, other players are hoping to surpass them and make the U.S. men's Olympic squad.

But to achieve that, they’ll need to do well in this week’s national championships.

World No. 9 Patrick Cantlay needs to finish at least tied for second to overtake Morikawa — assuming his Ryder Cup teammate doesn't finish seventh or better. Morikawa has finished no worse than T16th in his past six starts and has a top-five finish in every major so far this year.

After that, it's not complicated. For Sahith Theegala, Brian Harman, Max Homa, Keegan Bradley and Russell Henley, the equation is simple: They need to win the U.S. Open to have a chance to make the team.

A chase is going on between Canadians

It crosses the border into Canada, where even more intrigue lurks.

The race for Canada's two Olympic berths has heated up. Nick Taylor has been a consistent favorite for one spot, while Adam Hadwin finished third at the PGA Tour Memorial Tournament to move past Corey Conners for the country's other Olympic spot.

However, with Connors, Taylor Pendress, Mackenzie Hughes and Adam Swenson catching up and teeing up at the US Open, that could change with plenty of world ranking points on offer.

While there is little distance between Taylor, Hadwin and Connors, all of whom will compete in the Tokyo Olympics with Hughes in 2021, more is required of the others.

Pendrith needed to finish tied for third or better to move into one of the two allocated spots, as did Hughes, while Swenson needed to finish second without the front runners making a move.

Who will represent Spain alongside Philipp Lahm?

That’s a good question. The answer so far is three-time DP World Tour champion Jorge Campillo.

But with the 38-year-old not included in Pinewood’s 156-player match squad, the situation was out of control.

Conversely, 22-year-old David Puig, ranked just one spot below him at 117th in the world, could surpass his compatriot by making the cut in his second appearance at the U.S. Open.

Eugenio Chacarra needs to finish T3 or better in his major debut and then hope Puig fails to make the cut to have any hope of reaching the final.

Rahm had already secured his place in the tournament but withdrew from this week's U.S. Open with a foot injury.

Koreans scramble

This week, four South Korean players ranked in the top 50 in the world will compete, and some say this match is the real highlight.

Tom King, ranked 22nd in the world, and An Byung-hun, one spot behind, are currently expected to compete in France this summer.

But Im Sung-jae and Kim Si-won, ranked 30th and 45th in the world, are hoping to change those plans.

If Kim Hyung-an and Kim Yeon-seok are unable to compete this weekend, any finish in the top nine would be enough to allow Im Se-kyun to surpass Kim Hyung-an and Lee Hong-an.

For four-time PGA Tour winner Kim Cheol-Han, he will need to finish T3 or better and hope Kim and Hong don't make the cut.

Can anything change the Fleetwood and Fitzpatrick monopoly over Britain?

Although Robert MacIntyre made headlines recently with his PGA Tour win, it remains a long shot whether the Scotsman will make his Olympic debut this summer.

Leading the way for the long term are Tommy Fleetwood and Matt Fitzpatrick, the British duo who started the week ranked 13th and 16th in the world respectively.

Realistically speaking, MacIntyre needs to finish at least second to overtake 2022 U.S. Open champion Fitzpatrick, and for Rose, the formula is simple.

If the 2013 U.S. Open champion wants to have a chance to become a two-time gold medalist, he needs to win the tournament and then hope that Fleetwood or Fitzpatrick can get a week off.

Can the Molinari brothers break into the Italian national team?

One of the week’s biggest storylines was the appearance of both Molinari brothers at Pinewood, as last month’s Ryder Cup champions both made it through the final qualifying round.

A year ago, the two were part of the European Ryder Cup support team and might have hoped to play in the Olympics.

Currently ahead of them are Matteo Manassero, playing in his first major since 2016, and Guido Migliozzi, who won the DP World Tour at Le Golf National in Paris.

Open champion Francesco only needs to finish 14th or better to surpass Migliozzi, while his brother Eduardo, currently ranked outside the top 500 in the world, needs to finish in the top five in the U.S. Open standings on Sunday.

While these may be the key Olympic stories brewing behind the scenes as players compete for one of golf's most prized trophies, there are many others. So in North Carolina, the tournament is worth the wait.