The XXXIII Olympic Games is here, with Paris set to roll out the globe’s biggest sporting extravaganza from July 26 to August 11. Golf made a victorious return to the Summer Olympics after 112 years at Rio de Janeiro in 2016, and featured again in the Covid-hit 2020 Tokyo edition, so there’s much anticipation surrounding its presence at the 2024 games.
This time, the men’s golf event will take place at Le Golf National, on the outskirts of Paris, on August 1 to 4, while the women tee off from August 7 to 10.
The year 2020 was a testing phase in world history with the struggle to cope with the raging pandemic, but even in those times of strife the Olympic spirit triumphed.
International Olympic Committee President, Thomas Bach, praised the athletes with his words, “In these difficult times, you give the world the most precious of gifts: hope… The Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 are the Olympic Games of hope, solidarity and peace.”
Scheduled from July 24 to August 9, 2020, the Tokyo Games were postponed to 2021 in what was the first postponement in Olympic history.
Days before the competition, USA’s Bryson DeChambeau and Spain’s Jon Rahm, the World No 1 at the time, tested positive for COVID-19, sending shockwaves through the ranks.
The event took place behind closed doors at the East Course of the Kasumigaseki Country Club, and the men’s and women’s individual winner was determined by the lowest overall score after 72 holes, just as it was when golf returned to the Olympics in 2016.
Each golfer played 18 holes daily over four days, similar to other major stroke play tournaments, and the men’s contest was a nail-biter between Xander Schauffele of the US and Slovakia’s Rory Sabbatini.
At one point, Schauffele seemed to be losing ground to Sabbatini, who set an Olympic record with a final round score of 61, but the American rallied with two crucial putts to close at 4-under 67 and win by one stroke at 18-under 266.
The victory marked USA’s first Olympic gold in an individual golf event since 1900.
After creating history, Schauffele said he did it for his father and swing coach, Stefan, whose Olympic dreams were dashed at the age of 20 after a car crash left him blind in one eye.
“For me, I really wanted to win for my dad,” said Schauffele. “I am sure he is crying somewhere right now. I kind of wanted this one more than any other.”
Rory McIlroy, Paul Casey, Hideki Matsuyama, CT Pan, Collin Morikawa, Mito Pereira, and Sebastian Munoz tied for the third place at 15-under 269, forcing a play-off for bronze.
The unprecedented situation required them to be split into two groups. The rest fell back quickly, and it was down to two men. Morikawa missed the par putt on the 18th, the fourth play-off hole, and Pan of Taipei took home the bronze.
The 2024 Paris Golf Qualification System concluded the men’s qualifying season on June 17.
The golf competition will have 60 athletes, and Olympic qualification requirements are intended to guarantee that players from all around the globe are represented, including a major portion of the field ranked outside the top 200.
A maximum of four players from each nation are allowed, and the top 15 players in the world are eligible. With an upper limit of two qualified players from any nation that does not currently have a minimum of two players in the top 15, the rest of the players are chosen directly from the rankings. Hosts France were guaranteed one spot, but will have two male players in Matthieu Pavon and Victor Perez, based on world ranking.
The United States has the most competitors among the men with Scottie Scheffler — World No. 1 and the most dominant player over the past 12 months — Xander Schauffele, Wyndham Clark and Collin Morikawa making the four-man team.
Scheffler is having a season to remember on the PGA Tour, and he will be driven by a podium finish. With six wins in 2024, Scheffler is being compared to some of the game’s greatest players, and a Paris high can only add to his growing aura.
Not since Tiger Woods in 2006, has a player recorded this feat, and Scheffler’s dominance can be gauged from his season stats. He hasn’t missed cut in 16 starts, has six wins, 2 runner-ups, 14 top-10s and just one finish outside the top-25.
Competing in the Olympics for the first time, nothing less than gold will do.
“Playing for your country is always extremely exciting, and it will be pretty surreal doing it on the Olympic stage,” Scheffler said in a recent interview. “It’s also good bragging rights for people that tell me golf is not a sport, I can say it’s an Olympic sport.”
No one can discount the chances of Schauffele, the reigning Olympic champion, as he comes into the week at Paris on the back of his season’s second Major win at the Open Championship.
Speaking to a leading sports video partner, the 30-year-old said that he is eager to repeat his Tokyo 2020 feat, saying: “Two [golds] is better than one.”
Rory McIlroy wasn’t part of golf’s return at the Olympics in 2016, citing the burden of choosing between Britain or Ireland was too much. He enjoyed his time in Tokyo, and this time McIlroy will be wearing the Irish green with buddy Shane Lowry. After a challenging start to the season, McIlroy posted back-to-back wins on the PGA Tour to silence critics. While his hunt for the next Major continues, gold in Paris could just be the solace he seeks.
Other notable names from the PGA Tour to challenge for a medal include the formidable US duo of Wyndham Clark and Collin Morikawa, Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama, Joohyung Kim (Tom Kim) of Korea, Britain’s Tommy Fleetwood and Matt Fitzpatrick, Swede Ludvig Aberg and Viktor Hovland of Norway.
There will be a strong representation of LIV Golf golfers, and Jon Rahm headlines the list of seven names. After notching a couple of strong finishes on the DP World Tour last season, former World No 1 Rahm has stayed competitive on LIV, and comes into Paris on the back of a top-10 at the 152nd Open Championship in Royal Troon.
Others in the fray are Rahm’s Spanish teammate David Puig, Poland’s Adrian Meronk, Chile’s Mito Pereira and Joaquin Niemann, Mexico’s Carlos Ortiz and Abraham Ancer.
Britain’s Rio 2016 Olympic champion Justin Rose will be absent, as will two-time US Open winner Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, and former World No 1 Tiger Woods, all from the US.
The 2024 Olympic golf competitions will be played from August 1 to 10 at Le Golf National’s Albatros Course, which also hosted the 2018 Ryder Cup.
Le Golf National lies in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, about 26 km from Paris. The classic course is well known for its links-style bunkers, immaculate greens, and wide undulating fairways.
However, contrary to a links course, water hazards can be encountered on a number of holes, making it a stern test of mental strength.
The French Golf Federation owns and manages the facility, which was designed by architects Hubert Chesneau and Robert Von Hagge in conjunction with Pierre Thevenin. It opened in 1991 as a national training facility and the permanent site of the annual French Open.
The Albatros begins with a seemingly straightforward par four to ease the player in, but the small fairway and persistent breeze from the north necessitates wind mastery, intelligent club selection, and a meticulous strategy to stay out of obstacles.
The fangs of the course begin to appear from Holes 5 to 14. A dogleg-right par four with a two-tiered green, bunkers, and water hazards put the best to test.
Hole 11, a par 5, provides a birdie opportunity if one can manage the water hazards that flank the green.
The real action begins on the final four holes. The 15th is a par four that is short but quite challenging. Cautious strategy is critical to prevent bunkers and water hazards given that the wind can have a big influence. The par-5 18th is an endurance test with its narrow fairway and water hazards.
Find out more here.
(Main and featured image: 2024 Olympics)
This story first appeared on Prestige Singapore.
The golf competitions at the 2024 Summer Olympics will take place at Le Golf National on the outskirts of Paris.
Xander Schauffele of the United States won gold, followed by Slovakia’s Rory Sabbatini with silver and bronze for CT Pan of Taipei.
The field for the Olympic Games is limited to 60 players, and is based on the Official World Golf Ranking.
For both men and women, the Olympic Golf Competition consists of a 72-hole individual stroke play format (four rounds spanning over four days). Scores are added up from round to round. The player with the lowest overall score wins.
Robin Bose has covered multi-discipline sport for prominent publications in India like The Statesman and Outlook before being bitten by the golf bug in 2008. He specialised in the sport and covered it ..Read More
