The next two weeks will feature a game within a game, with PGA Tour players competing against their friends for a rare chance to win.
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We are in the championship season of golf's annual schedule, with two men's majors already concluded and another just a week away. This year's schedule is particularly exciting, with the Olympic Games squeezed into the weeks after the Open. But qualifying for this special quadrennial tournament is not so easy. In fact, the competition is quite fierce.
The next two weeks will see the men’s Olympic golf rosters finalized, but only after a big event this week (the Memorial) and an even bigger one next week (the Pinehurst Open). The women’s rosters will be finalized a week after the men’s rosters. So if August is Olympic golf season, June is Olympic golf qualifying season. Just look at the battles going on below.
American Gunfight
The only country to send four golfers to the Olympics is the U.S. Most countries send two, others only one, but the U.S. is loaded with talent, with nine players ranked in the top 15 in the world. Scotty Scheffler Locked. Xander Schauffelethe defending gold medalist. Wyndham Clark At this point, he's pretty much guaranteed to win unless multiple players have multiple weeks of strong performances to catch him. However, the fourth spot is in chaos.
Colin Morikawa Monday advanced to the last qualifying spot, Patrick Cantlay dropped to 9th in the world. The 10th in the world is Max Homaanother American. The eleventh is Brian Harmananother American. The thirteenth and fourteenth are Sassis Sigala and Keegan Bradleyare slightly behind, but a win in either of the next two weeks would make things real These two are interesting. The score difference between these gentlemen is very small, so as long as they are in the top ten continuously, one of them can book a ticket to Paris.
France is now in lockdown
Speaking of booking a flight to Paris, Victor Perez Already done. You may have tuned in to watch him chase Robert MacIntyre in Canada on Sunday night, where Perez punched a birdie to finish third. Was he just happy to be the club leader? Maybe. But all the qualifying points provided by third place moved him up to 84th in the world, 30 spots above the next pro in France, Romain Langassc. He will join Matthew Pavin Playing for his home country, France.
Canadian Friendly Fire
If the United States is going to go to a penalty shootout, then we have to characterize the Canadians' fight as a friendly one, because the five people vying for the two spots are all very close friends. Nick Taylor, Corey Connors, Adam Hadwin, Tyler Pendress and Mackenzie Hughes They all had a great time together. They often played practice matches together, and some even went to college together. (Hughes, Pendris and Connors all played together at Kent State.) But this year they are all competing for Olympic berths and spots in the Presidents Cup in Montreal later this year.
Taylor is a lock for the Olympics—no Canadian has played as well as he has in the past 18 months. But Connors (45), Hadwin (59), Pendrith (64) and Hughes (65) are all vying for the second Canadian spot. Connors did himself a favor last weekend with a 65 to finish sixth. Can anyone take that spot away from him?
LIV teammates' dreams are shattered
Looking back at 2021, everything should be simple. Joaquin Niemann and Pereira mythlongtime junior golfer and close friend from Chile—are all competing in the Tokyo Olympics. They are still rookies on the PGA Tour, but they have to consider that they will represent their home country in future Olympics. Niemann won the Genesis Invitational soon after, while Pereira almost won the 2022 PGA Championship. They must have felt more certain then.
But both players left the PGA Tour for LIV Golf, which does not award world ranking points. Therefore, it was difficult for both players to qualify for the Olympics. Niemann earned his ticket by performing well in several DP World Tour events, but Pereira did not achieve much. He fell behind Cristobal del Solar He is only 14 spots behind in the world rankings, but he has no chance to make up ground as LIV Golf is playing in Houston this week and Perreira is ineligible for next week's U.S. Open. Even if Del Solara misses the cut in this week's BMW Charity Pro-Am, his ranking won't be affected much and Perreira will pass him.
Spanish second
it is known Jon Rahm Will represent Spain in Paris, a tournament that will count towards his minimum four-tournament appearance in 2024 to maintain his DPWT status for next year's Ryder Cup. But who will join him? David Puig Following closely behind is the world's 113th Adrian Otaeguiranked 115th in the world. One percent behind Otaegui is Jorge Campilloranked 117th. The latter two will compete in the DPWT's Scandinavian Mix this weekend, but neither will play in the U.S. Open (unless Puig fights hard in the final qualifying tournament). This is undoubtedly the most intense competition for an Olympic spot for non-Americans.
Sung Jae's Last Chance
It feels right Intrinsically safe He has already qualified for the Olympics. He played incredible golf at the beginning of 2024 and is ahead of Ren Chengcai In the world rankings, his parents are also Olympians who have represented South Korea and China in table tennis. Ahn is currently ranked 26th in the world but must hold on as Ren is only 6 places behind. A few top 20 finishes would be enough to turn things around. Both are playing with Tom Kinguntil Kim finished T4 at the weekend tournament in Canada, all but guaranteeing himself a tee time in Paris.
Family Matters Thunder Bear
At least for now, the Hojgaards' number one enemy is Thorbjorn Olsenaka Thunder Bear. Olesen won the Raw Al Khadijah tournament in January, which gave him enough points to secure a second spot for Denmark, beating Rasmus Hoggard The opportunity to play with his brother, Nicolahe has already secured his spot in the Olympics.
Olsen is ranked 80th and Rasmus Hogaard is 96th, so the twin sisters could still pull off a miracle, but Rasmus would have to win this weekend's Scandinavian Mix. Neither player qualified for the U.S. Open.
Together with Hideki Matsuyama from Japan…
The final of the men's Olympic event was held in Japan, but the result was as intense as any of the above games. Matsuyama Hideki Locked in world No. 15. He fought hard at the 2020 Olympics in his hometown, battling Xander Schauffele on the final hole, but ultimately missed the podium.
The final spot in Japan is up for grabs Nakajima Keitaranked 86th, Jiu Changliangranked 91st. The latter played the final qualifying match on Monday but failed to advance, so it seems that his Olympic qualification is over and the last spot will belong to Nakajima if he wants.
