How it works: Olympic golf

The countdown for the XXXIII Olympic Summer Games in Paris has begun, with this year’s Games set for July 26 to Aug. 11. Golf triumphantly returned to the Summer Olympics after a century-long hiatus with its revival in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and was contested again at the 2020 Tokyo Games, where two Americans (Xander Schauffele and Nelly Korda) clinched gold medals. The 2024 Olympic Golf competition kicks off with the men's tournament, Aug. 1-4, followed by the women's event, Aug. 7-10, at Le Golf National located just outside Paris in Guyancourt, France.

How players qualify for Olympic golf competitions

There will be 120 athletes competing in the golf competition at Paris 2024, with fields of 60 players each in the men’s and women’s events. Golf’s quota places for Paris 2024 are decided according to the Olympic Golf Ranking (OGR) as of June 17 for the men and June 24 for women.

The International Golf Federation (IGF) uses the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) to create the Olympic Golf Rankings (OGR) as a method of determining eligibility. The top 15 world-ranked players will be eligible for the Olympics, with a limit of four players from a given country. Following that, players will be eligible based on the world rankings, with a maximum of up to two eligible players from each country that does not already have two or more players among the top 15. This happens until the number of 59 athletes is reached, including continental places.

Each of the five continents of the Olympic Movement will be guaranteed at least one athlete in each of the women’s and men’s events, respectively. If they have not automatically qualified in accordance with the above, the continental places will be allocated to the highest-ranked athlete(s) on the OGR from the continent(s) without representation.

The full qualification system for the 2024 Olympic Games and related timelines can be found here.

How do Olympic Golf Rankings work?

The Olympic Golf Rankings (OGR) are calculated every Monday following completion of the previous week’s tournaments from around the world and are updated on the IGF website every Tuesday.

A number of ranking tournaments are applicable for the OGR. Points are awarded to athletes based on their final positions in each event, with performances in events with stronger fields earning more points, in accordance with a points distribution schedule approved by the IGF.

Ranking points for each player accumulate over a two-year “rolling” period. The OGR is ordered according to the average points that athletes manage to accumulate over the applicable two-year period.

Paris 2024 competition format, schedule

The Paris 2024 golf competition takes place Aug. 1-4 for the men’s event and Aug. 7-10 for the women at Le Golf National. The Olympic Golf Competition consists of 72 holes (no cut) of individual stroke play for both men and women, with four rounds scheduled over four consecutive days. Scores are cumulative from round to round, and the player with the lowest overall score wins.

More about Le Golf National

Le Golf National is located in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, located approximately 26 km outside Paris near Versailles. Owned and managed by the French Golf Federation, it was designed by architects Hubert Chesneau and Robert Von Hagge, in collaboration with Pierre Thevenin, and opened in 1991 as a national training facility and the permanent home for the annual French Open tournament. Le Golf National, which playes as a par 72 and stretches to 6,649 from the black tees, was renovated in 2016 and hosted the 2018 Ryder Cup.

Last time at 2020 Tokyo Games

Team USA's Xander Schauffele captured the gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Games in epic fashion. Right when Schauffele appeared to lose his firm grip on the gold, the 27-year-old American responded with two clutch putts at the end for a 4-under 67 and a one-shot victory over Rory Sabbatini of Slovakia.

When the last group walked onto the 18th green, however, nine players remained in the mix for a medal. One of them was 2021 Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama of Japan, who was part of a seven-man playoff for bronze that featured players from seven different countries and included Ireland's Rory McIlroy and USA's Collin Morikawa. C.T. Pan of Chinese Taipei, who closed with a 63, won the bronze in a four-hole playoff.

Team USA brought home two gold medals from Tokyo, as Nelly Korda continued the Americans' momentum and sealed the deal at 17-under. After starting the final round with a three-shot lead, Korda saw it slip away by the turn as she fell into a tie for the lead. But she rebuilt her advantage to three shots early on the back nine before closing with six pars. Japan’s Mone Inami won the silver, with New Zealand's Lydia Ko capturing bronze, adding a second Olympic medal to her colleciton after winning silver in 2016. Inami and Ko both finished tied at 16-under, one back of Korda, with Inami ultimately coming out on top in a one-hole playoff.

Past medalists

TOKYO 2020

Men’s competition

• GOLD: Xander Schauffele (United States)
• SILVER: Rory Sabbatini (Slovakia)
• BRONZE: C.T. Pan (Chinese Taipei)

Women’s competition

• GOLD: Nelly Korda (United States)
• SILVER: Mone Inami (Japan)
• BRONZE: Lydia Ko (New Zealand)

RIO 2016

Men’s competition

• GOLD: Justin Rose (United Kingdom)
• SILVER: Henrik Stenson (Sweden)
• BRONZE: Matt Kuchar (United States)

Women’s competition

• GOLD: Inbee Park (Republic of Korea)
• SILVER: Lydia Ko (New Zealand)
• BRONZE: Shanshan Feng (China)

ST. LOUIS 1904

Men's competition

• GOLD: George Lyon (Canada)
• SILVER: Chandler H. Egan (United States)
• BRONZE: Burt McKinnie/Francis Newton (United States)

Team event

• GOLD: United States
• SILVER: United States
• BRONZE: United States

PARIS 1900

Men's competition

• GOLD: Charles Sands (United States)
• SILVER: Walter Rutherford (Great Britain)
• BRONZE: David Roberston (Great Britain)

Women's competition

• GOLD: Margaret Abbott (United States)
• SILVER: Pauline Whittier (United States)
• BRONZE: Daria Pratt (United States)