Winning the gold medal in men’s golf in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games will be a stout task. Getting to the first tee at Kasumigaseki Country Club in Saitama, Japan, will prove just as difficult.
The field for the competition is restricted to 60 players. The International Golf Federation will use the official world golf rankings to determine eligibility. The top 15 in the world rankings automatically earn spots in the tournament, with each country limited to four players.
And there’s the rub for the good old U.S. of A.
With the opening ceremonies one year from today, the Americans are dominating the world rankings with 10 players currently ranked in the top 15, led by No. 1 and four-time major champion Brooks Koepka. Others in the top 15 include No. 2 Dustin Johnson, No. 5 Tiger Woods, No. 7 Bryson DeChambeau, No. 9 Justin Thomas, No. 10 Patrick Cantlay, No. 11 Xander Schauffele, No. 12 Tony Finau, No. 14 Rickie Fowler and No. 15 Gary Woodland.
As well, Matt Kuchar, who won the bronze medal when golf returned to the Olympics in 2016 at the Rio Games, is No. 16. Webb Simpson is No. 20, Patrick Reed No. 23 and Bubba Watson No. 24.
The qualification period ends June 22 of next year. The tournament begins July 30.
The U.S. was represented in the 2016 Rio Games by Kuchar, Fowler, Reed and Watson. At the moment, the red, white and blue would be represented in the 2020 Tokyo Games by Koepka, Johnson, Woods and DeChambeau, a pretty impressive foursome. But the race to be in that foursome will surely be an 11-month, star-spangled affair.
England’s Justin Rose is well positioned to defend his golf medal from the Rio Olympics as he’s ranked No. 4 in the world. Rory McIlroy, who opted not to play in Rio because of the threat of the Zika virus, is ranked No. 3 and said in May he would represent Ireland in the Tokyo Games. Sweden’s Henrik Stenson, who won the silver medal in Rio, is in position to return to the Olympics as he’s the country’s top-ranked player.
Other top-ranked players for their country include Italy’s Francesco Molinari, Spain’s Jon Rahm and Australia’s Adam Scott.
