SO FAR, 2016 has delivered some memorable storylines and there is more to come as golf makes its return to the Olympic Games this year for the first time in over a century.
It was back in 2009 that the International Olympic Committee decided to bring golf back to the Olympics for the first time since 1904 and it’s inclusion for the Rio games this summer has caused some major re-shuffling in scheduling across the game’s Tours, with The Open Championship and the US PGA Championship on the men’s schedule just two weeks apart when under normal circumstances there would be at least a one-month gap.
Open Champion Henrik Stenson headlines the men’s field as the latest Major champion after his historic breakthrough at Royal Troon and he will be up against another of 2016’s first-time Major winners in Masters champion Danny Willett. In addition, the likes of two-time Major winners Martin Kaymer and Bubba Watson will be going for gold for Germany and the United States respectively while Justin Rose, the 2013 US Open winner, will be representing Team GB along with Willett – but will he be going head-to-head in a quest for personal glory?
Women’s World No.1 Lydia Ko clinched her second Major at the ANA Inspiration in April and Canada’s rising star Brooke Henderson won her rst Major at the Women’s PGA Championship in June and both will be going all out for Olympic gold.
Sadly for the Games there will be some noticeable absentees with the top four ranked male golfers all declining to take part.
The Format
The competition format will be 72 holes of individual stroke play for both men and women (four rounds over four consecutive days) and the field size will be 60 athletes in both fields. Scores are cumulative from round to round with all competitors playing 72 holes. There is no 36-hole cut and the golfer with the lowest aggregate score will win the gold medal with silver and bronze for those finishing second and third.
In preparing for golf’s return to the Olympic Games, it was agreed that it would not be appropriate to experiment on format. The professional golfers playing on the Tours were canvassed for their opinions and they were in favour of the tried-and-trusted format of stroke-play as the preferred option.
The Field
The list of competitors is finalised using the Official World Golf Rankings.
The top-15 ranked players are eligible, with a limit of four players from a given country.
Beyond the top 15, players will be eligible based on the world rankings, with a maximum of two eligible players from each country that does not already have two or more players among the top-15.
