The U.S. Olympic men’s golf team was finalized on Sunday, and the man whom Global Golf Post’s Ron Green described as “golf’s ultimate iconoclast” won’t be wearing red, white and blue.
Bryson DeChambeau won his second U.S. Open title and entered that rarified place in golf lore as a multi-major champion, but he finished too far back in the pack for one of four spots on the American team that will be favored to win medals at next month’s Olympics.
DeChambeau has been banned by the PGA Tour since joining LIV Golf for the rival tour’s mid-2022 launch, so his ability to earn Official World Golf Ranking points and thus try to qualify via the International Golf Federation’s Olympic ranking has been limited.
The Americans won’t feel shorthanded, though, with world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and No. 2 Xander Schauffele, who won gold at the COVID-delayed Tokyo Games in 2021, teaming with No. 4 Wyndham Clark and No. 7 Collin Morikawa for the 72-hole, stroke-play event on August 1-4 at Le Golf National in Guyancourt, France, in Paris’ western suburbs. Patrick Cantlay, who tied for third in the U.S. Open, came up short in his bid for the games.
The Olympic teams were determined via the updated OWGR. The U.S. merited four spots in the 60-man field because of the Americans’ dominance at the top of the world order. Other nations earned no more than two spots. Among the qualifiers:
Canada: Corey Conners played his way onto the team with a tie for ninth at the U.S. Open, bumping Adam Hadwin, according to projections by NBC Sports, which will broadcast the Olympics. Conners will join Nick Taylor, the national hero from the 2023 RBC Canadian Open.
France: The host nation will showcase a hot hand in Matthieu Pavon, who backed up his first PGA Tour victory earlier this year at Torrey Pines with a tie for fifth at the U.S. Open, and countryman Victor Perez.
Great Britain: Tommy Fleetwood and Matt Fitzpatrick were locks for the Olympics even before both made the cut at the U.S. Open.
Ireland: U.S. Open runner-up Rory McIlroy, who as a native of Northern Ireland is a British subject, will team with Ireland’s Shane Lowry in a reprising of the duo that won this year’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
Spain: David Puig earned a position when he made the cut at the U.S. Open, overtaking Jorge Campillo for the second spot with Jon Rahm, whose position was secure despite having withdrawn from the U.S. Open with an infected left foot.
Competitors for the Olympic women’s tournament, which will be played August 7-10 at Le Golf National, will be finalized after this week’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
An exemption category for LIV Golf members into the U.S. Open is under discussion among USGA leaders, CEO Mike Whan confirmed last week, and it could happen with or without a business agreement between the PGA Tour and the Saudi-funded rival tour.
“We're going to talk about it this offseason, whether or not there needs to be a path to somebody, or somebodies, that are performing really well on LIV that can get a chance to play in that way,” Whan said. “I think we are serious about that. Exactly what that looks like … I'm not just being coy; we haven't done that yet.”
LIV members have been suspended by the PGA Tour and thus face hurdles in accumulating points on the Official World Golf Ranking and qualifying for the major championships. LIV Golf remains ineligible for the OWGR.
Thirteen LIV members were exempted into the U.S. Open before Jon Rahm, the 2021 Open champion, withdrew with a foot injury. READ MORE
The USGA bumped its prize fund for the 124th U.S. Open to $21.5 million, with $4.3 million going to the winner. It was an increase from $20 million last year. The purse is second only to the $25 million Players Championship on the PGA Tour. Also, $10,000 was awarded to every professional contestant, with the amateurs being reimbursed for their expenses. “We really believe making the cut at the U.S. Open is about getting into the field,” USGA CEO Mike Whan said, noting the 10,052 players who attempted to qualify into the 156-man field.
Tiger Woods has been so good for so long that his rivals on the PGA Tour think he merits a special exemption for the elite “signature events.”
The PGA Tour Policy Board is scheduled to vote Tuesday before the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Connecticut, on granting Woods a “lifetime achievement” exemption into the $20 million, limited-field all-star tournaments. The news was first reported by Golf.com’s Sean Zak and confirmed by GolfChannel.com’s Rex Hoggard. Realistically, Woods would not play in all eight signature events. A special exemption would give him a spot in the tour’s premier event, the Players Championship.
Woods, 48, has played sparingly this year as he has struggled with various injuries and the lingering effects of his single-vehicle rollover crash in early 2021. In four starts this year, he has missed two cuts, including at last week’s U.S. Open, and withdrew once. His only weekend play resulted in a 60th-place finish – last among the players to have made the cut – at the Masters.
But, with 15 major championships among a PGA Tour record-tying 82 career victories, Woods has amassed a certain level of goodwill. His tour brethren will decide Tuesday just how much. READ MORE
Global Golf Post has learned that an agreement has been reached between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund regarding the unification of the men's professional game. Although not binding, the agreement revolves around the financial investment that the PIF, which underwrites the rival LIV Golf circuit, will make in PGA Tour Enterprises, but the details are vague. Unresolved issues include the future of LIV Golf and sanctions on players who left the PGA Tour. The year-long negotiations date to the stunning “framework agreement” that was announced June 6, 2023.
TAP-INS
Nelly Korda, who had won six of seven starts during a historic streak on the LPGA, has lost her momentum. After an opening-round 76 at the Meijer LPGA Classic in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Korda missed her second consecutive cut last week. She won the 2021 event on the same Blythefield Country Club course. Korda, 25, a 14-time winner on the LPGA, remains firmly atop the Rolex Women’s World Rankings. READ MORE
Denmark’s Thomas Bjørn has been named chairman of the DP World Tour’s Danish Golf Championship. Bjørn, 53, has won 15 times on the European Tour, competed on three winning Ryder Cup teams and captained Europe to a Ryder Cup victory in 2018. The tournament will be played August 22-25 at Lübker Golf Resort in Aarhus. READ MORE
The PIF Saudi International will end the season for the Asian Tour and conclude its International Series, the tour announced. The $5 million tournament will be played December 4-7 at Royal Greens Golf and Country Club in King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia. READ MORE
Compiled by Steve Harmon