I’ve long been a skeptic of Olympic golf.
Maybe it’s because the format strangely has no team element, or because the top players were slow to embrace the tournament. Or, as straightforward as this is, maybe Olympic golf is just new. The majors have ample history; Olympic golf lacks some of that context.
But after watching Sunday’s epic final round in Paris, I have to admit I’m reassessing my view that the tournament is on par with a second-tier PGA Tour event.
Will it ever be at the level of a major? Probably not. Still, I’m thinking Olympic golf might be on a trajectory to zoom past the FedEx Cup, Presidents Cup and even a few coveted Tour stops.
Here are five reasons why I’m reconsidering my stance.
1. It’s obvious the players genuinely care
I watch sports to see passionate, gifted athletes who try to achieve something they desperately want.
Money is secondary. You could tell me an athlete is playing for $100 million or $10—it all comes down to the emotion involved.
Olympic golf has that emotion. It has Scottie Scheffler crying at the podium after getting his gold medal. (Contrast that with cringe-worthy LIV celebrations as players spray each other with champagne.) It has Jon Rahm in shambles after blowing a four-stroke lead on the back nine. It has Tom Kim, who needed a medal to avoid mandatory military service in his home country of South Korea, breaking down in the scoring tent after coming up short of bronze.
That is interesting. It’s a huge part of why the majors are elevated. The stakes are high, even without the cash on the line.
I’m not sure we fully witnessed this with Olympic golf until last weekend. And I don’t think we see that emotion often enough with regular Tour events, particularly as talk of money has become so ubiquitous.
2. Its history of winners suddenly looks impressive
Scarcity might become powerful when it comes to golf in the Olympics.
There are so few chances for a player to win a medal. There have been three gold medal winners since golf was reintroduced to the Games back in 2016: Justin Rose, Xander Schauffele and Scottie Scheffler.
That is now an elite group of players, especially since Schauffele’s stock has been rising after winning two majors this season. Rose, Schauffele and Scheffler have five majors between them.
I can see it becoming a more valued piece of the resume as time goes on—there will inevitably be some great players who never win a medal. When you potentially only have three or four chances in an entire career, the pressure increases.
3. The host sites are about to get better
Nothing against Le Golf National but Riviera Country Club will be a significant step up when the 2028 Summer Games come to Los Angeles four years from now.
Riviera is one of the best courses in the world and it’s a universally loved Tour stop. We usually see it in February but getting it in August will likely be even better as firmer conditions could be presented.
The crowds should build upon what we saw in Paris last week. Also, we now have the memory of the 2024 playing that had one of the most chaotic finishes to a tournament that we’ve seen. Add in the possibility of a new mixed team event coming in 2028 and we have some positive momentum cooking.
Hopefully the dreadful qualifying system will be fixed by then—every top player should be there. That is something to look forward to as we get closer.
And eight years from now, the Games will be in Australia where some of the finest golf in the world resides. It has potential to be even bigger considering how the best pro golfers rarely visit Australia.
4. There is one fascinating part of the format
I hadn’t considered this much until last week but Olympic golf is perhaps the only high-level stroke-play tournament in the world where nothing matters except being in the top three spots.
In a regular Tour event, a player might start the final round tied for 15th and seven shots back of the lead. There is almost no shot of winning but there is still a paycheck coming. In majors, a player’s finishing position might be worth a Masters invite or a bevy of world ranking points.
Olympic golf has no meaningful paycheck. Scheffler won only $38,000, which is a rounding error for him. Players do earn some money depending on the country they represent but it’s not anywhere near enough to sway strategy.
Everyone behind the leaders can be aggressive. There is nothing to lose.
That adds two intriguing elements: the hunters have total freedom and the hunted are a couple of mistakes away from losing everything.
We saw that on Sunday as Scheffler shot 62 to zoom past everyone while Rahm fell apart late, failing to capture a medal.
The biggest drawback is you have players miles off the lead who are going through the motions. That is why I wish a team element would be introduced so more players are involved on Sunday.
5. It has flavors of the Ryder Cup—but nearly guaranteed drama
I’m not saying Olympic golf is on the same level as the Ryder Cup. There is a long way to go to reach that point.
McIlroy thinks it is approaching the same category, however.
“I still think that the Ryder Cup is the best tournament that we have in our game, pure competition, and I think this has the potential to be right up there with it,” he said. “I think with how much of a sh-t show the game of golf is right now and you think about the two tournaments that might be the purest form of competition in our sport, we don’t play for money in it.”
That’s a strong endorsement—and Olympic golf arguably has more drama than the Ryder Cup.
Every Ryder Cup win since 2014 has been by a substantial margin and the home side has five consecutive victories. Olympic golf has parts of the Ryder Cup’s emotion—playing for your country on a big stage—and the added bonus of virtually guaranteeing final-round drama.
It is hard for three players to separate far enough from the rest of the field to remove excitement. Even if they do, there could still be competition to see how gold, silver and bronze shake out.
With how many tournaments struggle to find back-nine drama—even the Masters has been mostly bereft of those famous roars in recent years—Olympic golf has an advantage there.
What do you think of golf in the Olympics? Did this year’s event change your mind at all?
Let me know below in the comments.
Top Photo Caption: Tommy Fleetwood, Scottie Scheffler and Hideki Matsuyama hold their medals up. (GETTY IMAGES/Keyur Khamar)
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