Report: Multiple golfers opt out of Olympic Games

A number of tour pros have opted out of this year’s Olympic Games according to a report in Spain.

ElPeriodiGolf is claiming that Brooks Koepka, Tyrrell Hatton and Adam Scott have all requested that they be left out of the quadrennial showpiece, taking place in Paris this year.

Louis Oosthuizen, Thomas Pieters and Marcel Siem have reportedly done likewise.

The news is a blow for the International Golf Federation as it looks to secure golf’s involvement in the Games for the long-term.

The sport returned to the Olympic fold after a century-long absence in 2016, with Justin Rose and Inbee Park winning gold in the men’s and women’s events respectively.

In the COVID-delayed Games in Tokyo three years ago, Xander Schauffele and Nelly Korda made it a golden double for the USA.

Koepka was a long-shot to qualify for Team USA. With his world ranking in free fall following his 2022 move to the LIV Golf League.

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The top two players on the Official World Golf Ranking are automatically selected from any country, with up to four qualifying if all are ranked among the top-15 in the OWGR

Five-time major champion Koepka is currently world No.31 and the 18th highest American on the OWGR.

World No.16 Hatton, meantime, who recently followed Koepka in moving to LIV, is the third highest Brit on the standings behind Tommy Fleetwood and Matt Fitzpatrick.

Scott, a long-standing critic of golf’s place in the Olympics, passed on the opportunity to compete in both 2016 and 2021. He is currently the third highest-ranked Australia on the OWGR behind Jason Day and Min Woo Lee.

Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Erik van Rooyen currently occupy the two South African spots ahead of Oosthuizen, with Thomas Detry and Adrien Dumont de Chassart currently ahead of Pieters in the Belgian standings.

Siem, meantime, trails Stephan Jaeger and Yannik Paul in the standings for Germany.

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Currently, the field for the men’s 2024 Olympic golf competition at Le Golf National – venue for the 2018 Ryder Cup – is as follows:

USA: Scottie Scheffler, Wyndham Clark, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay

Ireland: Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry

Spain: Jon Rahm, David Puig

Norway: Viktor Hovland

Sweden: Ludvig Aberg, Alex Noren

Great Britain: Matt Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood

Japan: Hideki Matsuyama, Ryo Hisatsune

Australia: Jason Day, Min Woo Lee

South Korea: Tom Kim, Sungjae Im

France: Matthieu Pavon, Victor Perez

Canada: Nick Taylor, Adam Hadwin

Austria: Sepp Straka

Argentina: Emiliano Grillo, Alejandro Tosti

Denmark: Nicolai Hojgaard, Thorbjorn Olesen

New Zealand: Ryan Fox, Daniel Hillier

Poland: Adrian Meronk

Germany: Stephan Jaeger, Yannik Paul

Belgium: Thomas Detry, Adrien Dumont de Chassart

Finland: Sami Valimaki, Kalle Samooja

Chile: Joaquin Niemann, Mito Pereira

Chinese Taipei: Kevin Yu, CT Pan

China: Carl Yuan, Zecheng Dou

The Netherlands: Joost Luiten, Darius Van Driel

Colombia: Camilo Villegas, Nico Echavarria

Italy: Matteo Manassero, Guido Migliozzi

India: Shubhankar Sharma, Gaganjeet Bhullar

Mexico: Abraham Ancer, Carlos Ortiz

Malaysia: Gavin Green

Thailand: Phachara Khongwatmai, Kiradech Aphibarnrat

Paraguay: Fabrizio Zanotti

Puerto Rico: Rafael Campos

The 2024 Olympic men’s golf competition is scheduled to take place at Le Golf National in Paris from August 1-4.

Michael McEwan is the Deputy Editor of bunkered and has been part of the team since 2004. In that time, he has interviewed almost every major figure within the sport, from Jack Nicklaus, to Rory McIlroy, to Donald Trump. The host of the multi award-winning bunkered Podcast and a member of Balfron Golfing Society, Michael is the author of three books and is the 2023 PPA Scotland 'Writer of the Year' and 'Columnist of the Year'. Dislikes white belts, yellow balls and iron headcovers. Likes being drawn out of the media ballot to play Augusta National.

Deputy Editor