Olympics 2024: Everything you need to know about golf at the Summer Games in Paris

The idea of golf in the Olympics has taken some getting used to since its return in 2016 to the Summer Games after a 112-year absence. But with Paris marking the third time that the sport’s elite will compete for gold, silver and bronze medals, players and fans who once questioned the marriage of the sport and the event have bought into the union.

“I made some comments before that were probably uneducated and impulsive," said Rory McIlroy, a critic turned convert, after just missing out on a bronze medal when he competed at the Tokyo Games in 2021. "But coming here experiencing it, seeing, feeling everything that goes on, not just Olympic golf but just the Olympics in general, that sort of Olympic spirit's definitely bitten me and I'm excited how this week's turned out and excited for the future."

McIlroy will be one of 60 golfers from 32 countries taking part in the men’s competition that runs from Aug. 1-4 at Le Golf National, site of the 2018 Ryder Cup. That tournament will be following by the women’s event, Aug. 7-10, with a field of 60 representing 33 countries.

Still not quite used to golf being contested alongside track and field, swimming, gymnastics and 29 other sports? Here’s a primer to help get you caught up on everything as you settle in on the action over the next few weeks.

When again did golf become part of the Olympics?

More than three decades ago, when future Masters chairman Billy Payne was organizing the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, he helped raise the notion of making golf part of the Summer Games program, proposing that Augusta National could hold the competition. It didn’t come to pass, but the seeds that were planted at the time eventually sprung to life in October 2009, when the International Olympic Committee reinstated the sport to the Olympic program for the 2016 Rio Games.

Return?!? You mean golf was in the Olympics before?

Yes. Golf was a medal sport in 1900 when the second Summer Games were held in Paris and again in 1904 during the Olympics in St. Louis. In 1900, the Compiègne Club hosted the competition on Oct. 2-3. More than 22 players from four countries competed. American Charles Sands won the men’s gold with Margaret Abbott of the U.S. taking the women’s title.

In 1904, there was a men’s individual event as well as a team event played at Glen Echo Country Club in September. George Lyon of Canada was the gold medal winner while a U.S. squad representing the Western Golf Association was the team winner.

Golf was scheduled for the 1908 London Olympics but the tournament was canceled two days before it was to start due to a dispute between competitors from England and Scotland over the tournament format. Golf was also scheduled for the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp but cancelled due to a lack of entries.

Where is the 2024 competition being held?

The Albatros Course at Le Golf National, located about 25 miles southwest of downtown Paris in the town of Guyancourt. Designed by Hubert Chesnaeu and Robert von Hagge, the course has hosted the DP World Tour’s French Open since 1991 (save for 1999 and 2001) and was site of the 2018 Ryder Cup, where the European team walloped the Americans, 17½-10½.

How does the tournament work?

There are two separate individual events, one for men and one for women, that are being held. Each are 72-hole stroke-play tournaments like you see on the PGA Tour and LPGA. The player shooting the lowest score wins the gold medal, with second place earning silver and third earning bronze. In the event of ties for any of the places, there will be a playoff with only three total medals being awarded.

Are these amateurs competing in the Olympics or are they pros?

It’s almost exclusively pros. Qualifying for the competition is based on an Olympic Ranking that mirrors the Official World Golf Ranking for men and the Rolex Women’s Rankings for women. That said, in 2016, three female amateurs (Leona Maguire of Ireland, Albane Valenzuela of Switerzland and Tiffany Chen of Chinese Taipei) ranked high enough to qualify.

So all the top players in the field?

Well many of them are. Fourteen of the top 25 men in the Official World Golf Ranking are competing while 19 of the top 25 women in the Rolex Ranking.

How exactly do you qualify?

To make sure the tournament includes golfers from many countries, no one country can have any more than four golfers qualify for the event. And the only way to get four is if they’re all ranked in the top 15 in the world. Otherwise, only the top two ranked players from any country get into the tournament.

Here is a full list of the field for both events.

Didn’t a bunch of players say they weren’t going to play at first?

Yes. It took a little while for players to buy into the notion of golf being an Olympic sport. They have busy schedules and already playing in major championships. While winning a gold medal in the Olympics is the height of many sports, that isn’t necessarily the case in golf, so a handful of players said they would pass on playing when it was brought back in 2016 at Rio. In addition, some players also dropped out over concern with potentially contracting the Zika virus.

But slowly, more players have been won over by the prospect of playing for their countries. While COVID was an issue for the Tokyo Olympics, postponing the event a full year, most players who qualified competed as well.

Who is competing for Team USA?

On the men’s side, four Americans were ranked highly enough to earn spots in the field. They are Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Wyndham Clark and Colin Morikawa. As for the women, three are competing in Paris: Nelly Korda, Lilia Vu and Rose Zhang.

Who won medals in the previous Olympics?

Here’s how things broke out in 2016 at Rio:

MEN

Gold: Justin Rose, Great Britain

Silver: Henrik Stenson, Sweden

Bronze: Matt Kuchar, USA

WOMEN

Gold: Inbee Park, South Korea

Silver: Lydia Ko, New Zealand

Bronze: Shanshan Feng, China

And then in Tokyo in 2021:

MEN

Gold: Xander Schauffele, USA

Silver: Rory Sabbatini, Slovakia

Bronze: C.T. Pan, Chinese Taipei

WOMEN

Gold: Nelly Korda, USA

Silver: Mone Inami, Japan

Bronze: Lydia Ko, New Zealand

Will golf be in the Olympics when they come to Los Angeles in 2028?

Yes. Earlier this month, the International Golf Federation announced that Riviera Country Club has been approved as the host course.