The men’s Olympics golf tournament will feature some of the highest-profile players in the world, with eight of the top 10 in the world rankings teeing it up for their countries at Le Golf National in Paris.
Some might argue that figure alone suggests the tournament has a world-class field, particularly when it is limited to just 60. However, others have voiced their concerns over the number of glaring absentees.
The issue is largely two-fold, and each comes down to the world rankings used to determine who qualifies.
On the one hand, because available slots are so limited, it inevitably means many good players miss out. For example, the US has nine players in the current world’s top 15 – ordinarily high enough to qualify – but with a maximum of four slots available, there’s only room for the highest-ranked of those: Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Wyndham Clark and Collin Morikawa.
The other problem is the perpetually vexing issue of the scarcity of world-ranking opportunities for LIV golfers. That means that even one of the most successful players of 2024 on any circuit, US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau, couldn’t climb high enough up the list by the cut-off after the Pinehurst No.2 Major to qualify.
That was a disappointment for DeChambeau, who appeared on the Pat McAfee Show to say "nothing would mean more" than to compete at the Games. He added: "Hopefully, one day, this game of golf will get figured out and come back together, and I'll be able to play.
"I'm playing great golf. I'm excited. Am I frustrated and disappointed? Sure you could absolutely say that, but I made the choices that I made and there's consequences to that and I respect it.
"But, hopefully, it's sooner rather than later we figure out this great game of golf, so we can get past all of that and move forward into showing how awesome this sport actually is around the globe."
Several players who have made it to Paris had their say on the qualifying process in the build-up. With regards to the LIV Golf conundrum, PGA Tour star Rory McIlroy, who represents Ireland at the Games, had little sympathy for those who missed out, saying: “They were very aware of the decision they made” when they joined.
Not surprisingly, LIV golfer Carlos Ortiz, who plays for Mexico, had a slightly different take, claiming “politics” had interfered with the process, leading to deserving candidates failing to qualify. He said: "I still feel there's golfers that should be here and couldn't be here because of what has happened, you know.
"I think the Olympic Games definitely should be neutral. They should have not turned away ranking players accordingly, especially now that the world ranking points don't really work anymore."
Another LIV golfer at the Games, Spain’s Jon Rahm, offered a potential solution for the future, suggesting the world rankings should be taken out of the equation entirely by saying: “You need to let each country choose who they want to play.”
He then cited the case of basketball, adding: "I think you can always do it, like with other sports, and allow the countries to pick themselves. There needs to be some guidelines, but like Team USA Basketball has freedom to choose whoever they want.”
Ultimately, while the field is so limited, good players will inevitably miss out, something McIlroy points out is typical for the Olympics. He added: "Yeah, I think that's the nature of qualification for the Olympics. I mean, you could have the fifth-best sprinter in the world but if he's from a certain country, he's not able to make it.
"So I think it's just the way that the qualification works in the Olympic Games, and that's not just in golf. That's in other disciplines, as well."
While that’s the case, there’s no question that many of the biggest talents on the PGA Tour - and elsewhere - are absent, as the list of players missing from the current world’s top 50 proves…
Players In The World's Top 50 Missing From The Olympics
- 8 - Patrick Cantlay (USA)
- 9 - Bryson DeChambeau (USA)
- 11 - Sahith Theegala (USA)
- 13 - Russell Henley (USA)
- 15 - Brian Harman (USA)
- 16 - Robert MacIntyre (GB)
- 17 - Max Homa (USA)
- 18 - Tony Finau (USA)
- 19 - Sungjae Im (South Korea)
- 21 - Keegan Bradley (USA)
- 24 - Cameron Young (USA)
- 25 - Tyrrell Hatton (GB) *withdrew from consideration
- 27 - Akshay Bhatia (USA)
- 30 - Sam Burns (USA)
- 31 - Justin Thomas (USA)
- 33 - Billy Horschel (USA)
- 34 - Justin Rose (GB)
- 35 - Adam Scott (Australia) *withdrew from consideration
- 37 - Jordan Spieth (USA)
- 39 - Chris Kirk (USA)
- 40 - Denny McCarthy (USA)
- 41 - Nick Dunlap (USA)
- 42 - Cameron Davis (Australia)
- 43 - Davis Thompson (USA)
- 45 - Adam Hadwin (Canada)
- 47 - Aaron Rai (GB)
- 48 - Taylor Pendrith (Canada)
- 49 - Lucas Glover (USA)
- 50 - Eric Cole (USA)
Big Names From LIV Golf Missing From The Olympics
While plenty of highly ranked PGA Tour players failed to make it, it has inevitably been particularly hard for many star names from LIV golf to qualify given the circuit’s ineligibility for world rankings.
Despite the heroics of Bryson DeChambeau in 2024, he still missed out on a spot with Team USA by three places, while others whose low world ranking sealed their fate include five-time Major winner Brooks Koepka, who in any case withdrew from consideration, and former World No.1 Dustin Johnson, whose most recent Major win came at the 2020 Masters.
It’s not just talented American LIV golfers who may feel they should have been on the plane to Paris either. Australian Cameron Smith admitted earlier in the year he “desperately” wanted to make the team. However, he needed some strong performances in the three Majors before the cut-off to book his place, and didn’t quite do enough, missing out to Min Woo Lee and Jason Day.
Elsewhere, Spaniard Sergio Garcia has had a stellar year on the circuit, with a victory and two runner-up finishes, but they counted for nothing for his Olympics chances, meaning he doesn’t compete either.
Another player having a brilliant season with LIV Golf is Tyrrell Hatton, but despite still being in the world’s top 50, having only joined in time for the start of the season, he finished beneath Matt Fitzpatrick and Tommy Fleetwood in the battle for a Team GB place. In any case, the Englishman reportedly withdrew from consideration.
South African Louis Oosthuizen is another high-profile player who opted out of consideration, but his world ranking wouldn't have earned him a place anyway, with PGA Tour pros Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Erik Van Rooyen qualifying instead.
There is no place for Belgian Thomas Pieters, either. Despite also opting not to be considered, he has had a more celebrated career to date than both Thomas Detry and Adrien Dumont de Chassart, who have qualified.
As the list below shows, some big names now playing for LIV Golf who were in the previous Olympics, including Smith and Pieters, are also nowhere to be found at this year’s Games, adding to the sense that, while the Games may one day rival the Majors in importance, it will struggle to get there without a rethink of the qualifying process.
LIV Golfers Who Played At The Tokyo 2020 Olympics To Miss Out
- Paul Casey
- Anirban Lahiri
- Marc Leishman
- Sebastian Munoz
- Cameron Smith
- Thomas Pieters
- Patrick Reed
- Kalle Samooja
- Scott Vincent
