What Is the Olympic Golf Format And Who Is Playing?

For the 2016 Olympics, the format is 72 hole stroke play. There is no cut.

There is no guarantee that this will be the format in 2020 in Tokyo. For what it’s worth, I hope that it is not. Stroke play is the most pedestrian and boring of possible golf formats. Match play is the way to go.

While multiple players from a country may be on a “team,” only individuals will receive medals. Thus, if US “Team Member” Rickie Fowler wins, Matt Kuchar, also a US “Team Member” doees not get a medal. Therefore, it is possible for one country to take Gold, Silver and Bronze.

Participants in the Olympic Golf tournament consist of the top fifteen players in the Official World Golf Rankings, regardless of the country from which they hail. The remainder of the 60 player field are admitted on the basis of their World Golf Rankings, but with a maximum of two from each country that does not already have two or more in the top 15.

Thus, on the men’s side, the United States has four players (Watson, Fowler, Reed and Kuchar) in the top fifteen of the Official World Golf Rankings. Although there are others in the top fifteen (Mickelson, for example) the US quota of four is filled with those players.

The Men’s Field:

Men’s Field
1. Bubba Watson, USA
2. Henrik Stenson, Sweden
3. Rickie Fowler, USA
4. Danny Willett, Great Britain
5. Justin Rose, Great Britain
6. Sergio Garcia, Spain
7. Patrick Reed, USA
8. Matt Kuchar, USA
9. Rafa Cabrera Bello, Spain
10. Byeong Hun An, Korea
11. Thongchai Jaidee, Thailand
12. Danny Lee, New Zealand
13. Emiliano Grillo, Argentina
14. David Lingmerth, Sweden
15. Soren Kjeldsen, Denmark
16. Bernd Wiesberger, Austria
17. Martin Kaymer, Germany
18. Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Thailand
19. Anirban Lahiri, India
20. Thorbjorn Olesen, Denmark
21. Joost Luiten, Netherlands
22. Thomas Pieters, Belgium
23. Jaco Van Zyl, South Africa
24. Fabian Gomez, Argentina
25. Jeunghun Wang, Korea
26. Scott Hend, Australia
27. Marcus Fraser, Australia
28. Brandon Stone, South Africa
29. Yuta Ikeda, Japan
30. Shingo Katayama, Japan
31. Gregory Bourdy, France
32. Julien Quesne, France
33. Nicolas Colsaerts, Belgium
34. Ricardo Gouveia, Portugal
35. David Hearn, Canada
36. Wu Ashun, China
37. Miguel Tabuena, Philippines
38. Hao Tong Li, China
39. Alex Cejka, Germany
40. Graham DeLaet, Canada
41. Fabrizio Zanotti, Paraguay
42. Padraig Harrington, Ireland
43. Ryan Fox, New Zealand
44. SSP Chawrasia, India
45. Danny Chia, Malaysia
46. Mikko Ilonen, Finland
47. Jhonattan Vegas, Venezuela
48. Felipe Aguilar, Chila
49. Cheng Tsung Pan, Taiwan
50. Adilson da Silva, Brazil
51. Seamus Power, Ireland
52. Espen Kofstad, Norway
53. Roope Kakko, Finland
54. Nino Bertasio, Italy
55. Siddikur Rahman, Bangladesh
56. Wen-Tang Lin, Taiwan
57. Gavin Kyle Green, Malaysia
58. Matteo Manassero, Italy
59. Rodolfo Cazaubon, Mexico
60. Jose-Filipe Lima, Portugal

The Women’s Field

Women’s Field
1. Lydia Ko, New Zealand
2. Brooke Henderson, Canada
3. Inbee Park, Korea
4. Lexi Thompson, USA
5. Sei Young Kim, Korea
6. Amy Yang, Korea
7. Ariya Jutanugarn, Thailand
8. In Gee Chun, Korea
9. Stacy Lewis, USA
10. Anna Nordqvist, Sweden
11. Shanshan Feng, China
12. Minjee Lee, Australia
13. Gerina Piller, USA
14. Suzann Pettersen, Norway
15. Harukyo Nomura, Japan
16. Charley Hull, Great Britain
17. Teresa Lu, Taiwan
18. Candie Kung, Taiwan
19. Pornanong Phatlum, Thailand
20. Carlota Ciganda, Spain
21. Su-Hyun Oh, Australia
22. Shiho Oyama, Japan
23. Azahara Munoz, Spain
24. Xiyu Lin, China
25. Sandra Gal, Germany
26. Karine Icher, France
27. Catriona Matthew, Great Britain
28. Caroline Masson, Germany
29. Nicole Broch Larsen, Denmark
30. Pernilla Lindberg, Sweden
31. Alena Sharp, Canada
32. Gaby Lopez, Mexico
33. Mariajo Uribe, Colombia
34. Nanna Koerstz Madsen, Denmark
35. Paula Reto, South Africa
36. Gwladys Nocera, France
37. Julieta Granada, Paraguay
38. Kelly Tan, Malaysia
39. Marianne Skarpnord, Norway
40. Ashleigh Simon, South Africa
41. Laetitia Beck, Israel
42. Giulia Molinaro, Italy
43. Ursula Wikstrom, Finland
44. Noora Tamminen, Finland
45. Klara Spilkova, Czech Republic
46. Christine Wolf, Austria
47. Giulia Sergas, Italy
48. Maria Verchenova, Russia
49. Leona Maguire, Ireland
50. Albane Valenzuela, Switzerland
51. Alejandra Llaneza, Mexico
52. Chloe Leurquin, Belgium
53. Fabienne In-Albon, Switzerland
54. Tiffany Chan, Hong Kong
55. Michelle Koh, Malaysia
56. Aditi Ashok, India
57. Miriam Nagl, Brazil
58. Victoria Lovelady, Brazil
59. Stephanie Meadow, Ireland
60. Maha Haddioui, Morocco