With the US Open being the final high-profile tournament for male golfers to earn Olympic ranking points and qualify for the Summer Games next month in Tokyo, expectations were heightened that there might be movement on the points list among players between and within countries.
Too heightened as it turned out.
When the ranking became official overnight, no golfer either jumped into the top 60 of the ranking or fell out. (Complete team listings are below.) This occurred despite the possibility of movement existing on yesterday during the volatile final round at Torrey Pines.
Arguably, the tightest team race entering the final weekend of qualifying was for a spot on the American roster with 10 of the top 15 players in the world hailing from the US. The foursome of golfers who ultimately qualified to play in Japan include Justin Thomas (No.3 in the World Ranking), Collin Morikawa (4), Bryson DeChambeau (5) and Xander Schauffele (6).
On the outside looking were Patrick Cantlay (7), Brooks Koepka (8), Patrick Reed (9), Webb Simpson (13) and Tony Finau (15). Had Kopeka, who finish T-4 at Torrey Pines, won or finished outright second yesterday, mathematically he would have passed Schauffele to grab the final spot.
A total of 60 golfers will be competing in the 72-hole strokeplay format at Kasumigaseki Country Club in Kasahata, Saitama, Japan, about 55 kilometres north-west of downtown Tokyo. The men’s tournament will be held from July 29 to August 1. Between one and four golfers can compete from any one country, based on their place in the Olympic rankings, which are a modified version of the world ranking. All players inside the top 15 qualify so long as they are among the top four players within the country.
While there was no last-minute sneaking into the top 60 on the Olympic list after the weekend, earlier in the month a few players jumped in and out of the ranking. Garrick Higgo’s win at the Palmetto Championship allowed him to move past Christiaan Bezuidenhout for the second of two spots from South Africa. In May, Japan’s Rikuya Hoshino stayed home to play on the Japan Golf Tour and used two tournament wins to pass Takumi Kanaya, who was playing over in the US on sponsor’s exemptions, and join Hideki Matsuyama as Japan’s representative into their home Olympic Games.
There was potential for drama as to how the Team GB&I squad would shake out as well. Paul Casey had passed Matthew Fitzpatrick a few weeks ago in the ranking for the second spot, along with Tyrrell Hatton. Both were in the mix briefly at Torrey Pines, but when Casey finished tied for seventh, his spot on the GB&I team was locked in.
All this said, there is still potential for some roster shake-ups between now and the Olympics. The International Golf Federation doesn’t officially release the updated Olympic Points list until Wednesday, and potentially players in the next few days who qualified might opt out of competing. The harsh reality of strict COVID protocols that will be applied to athletes in Tokyo, including a ban on attending other Olympic events and a requirement to stay in an IOC-approved hotel nearly two hours from the golf course, might cause others to decide to pass on their spot. Among those who have already done this: Dustin Johnson of the US, and Adam Scott of Australia.
Prior to his victory at the US Open, Jon Rahm noted that the International Olympic Committee wasn’t “making it easy” for golfers to compete. In addition to the restrictions, a crowded calendar of big events makes taking a trip to Japan in the height of the season a challenge.
“I can understand why a lot of people are prioritising the FedEx Cup events and great golf events,” Rahm said. “The Olympics are relatively new for golf, and I don’t blame them.”
MEN OLYMPIC QUALIFIERS (World Ranking in parenthesis)
* unofficial list based on world ranking position; final official list released June 23.
Argentina
Emiliano Grillo (74)
Australia
Cameron Smith (28)
Marc Leishman (43)
Next in line: Matt Jones (62), Jason Day (71)
Editors’ note: Adam Scott announced that he has taken his name out of consideration for this year’s Olympics. Scott would otherwise be among the top two ranked players from Australia.
Austria
Matthias Schwab (118)
Sepp Straka (174)
Belgium
Thomas Detry (94)
Thomas Pieters (107)
Canada
Corey Conners (36)
Mackenzie Hughes (63)
Next in line: Adam Hadwin (101)
Chile
Joaquin Niemann (31)
Mito Pereira (146)
China
Carl Yuan (291)
Next in line: Ashun Wu (312), Xinjun Zhang (335), Haotong Li (342)
Chinese Taipei
C.T. Pan (181)
Colombia
Sebastian Munoz (67)
Czech Republic
Ondrej Liese (231)
Denmark
Rasmus Hojgaard (121)
Joachim B. Hansen (151)
Finland
Kalle Samooja (117)
Sami Valimaki (122)
Next in line: Mikko Korhonen (195)
France
Victor Perez (37)
Antoine Rozner (78)
Germany
Martin Kaymer (99)
Maxmillian Kieffer (193)
Next in line: Hurly Long (263)
Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Tyrrell Hatton (11)
Paul Casey (20)
Next in line: Matt Fitzpatrick (21), Lee Westwood (27), Tommy Fleetwood (33), Justin Rose (44), Robert MacIntyre (50)
Ireland
Rory McIlroy (10)
Shane Lowry (42)
Next in line: Padraig Harrington (158), Graeme McDowell (163)
Italy
Guido Migliozzi (72)
Francesco Molinari (133)
Next in line: Renato Paratore (180)
Japan
Hideki Matsuyama (16)
Rikuya Hoshino (76)
Next in line: Takumi Kanaya (85), Shugo Imahira (135), Ryo Ishikawa (156)
Malaysia
Gavin Kyle Green (286)
Mexico
Abraham Ancer (23)
Carlos Ortiz (53)
The Netherlands
Joost Luiten (177)
Wil Besseling (221)
New Zealand
Ryan Fox (178)
Norway
Viktor Hovland (14)
Kristian K. Johannessen (292)
Paraguay
Fabrizio Zanotti (280)
The Philippines
Juvic Pagunsan (216)
Poland
Adrian Meronk (189)
Puerto Rico
Rafael Campos (281)
Slovakia
Rory Sabbatini (167)
South Africa
Louis Oosthuizen (12)
Garrick Higgo (39)
Next in line: Christiaan Bezuidenhout (46), Branden Grace (60), Daniel von Tonder (79), Erik van Rooyen (87), Dylan Frittelli (88)
South Korea
Sungjae Im (26)
Si Woo Kim (49)
Next in line: K.H. Lee (66), Joohyung Kim (124), Byeong Hun An (134)
Spain
Jon Rahm (1)
Sergio Garcia (48)
Next in line: Rafa Cabrera-Bello (140), Adi Arnaus (147)
Sweden
Alex Noren (93)
Henrik Norlander (136)
Next in line: Henrik Stenson (155), Marcus Kinhult (176)
Thailand
Jazz Janewattananond (129)
Gunn Chareonkul (260)
United States
Justin Thomas (3)
Collin Morikawa (4)
Bryson DeChambeau (5)
Xander Schauffele (6)
Next in line: Patrick Cantlay (7), Brooks Koepka (8), Patrick Reed (9), Webb Simpson (13), Tony Finau (15)
Editors’ note: Despite being the No.2-ranked player in the world, and thus would qualify for the US team, Dustin Johnson is not listed in the official Olympic Rankings because in 2020 he said that he would not compete in the games.
Venezuela
Jhonattan Vegas (130)
Zimbabwe
Scott Vincent (237)
