Rio 2016 Olympic Golf

Golf was last an Olympic sport at the 1904 Games in St. Louis, when the United States and Canada were the only two competing countries.

Following the October 2009 decision by the IOC, Golf will be part of the Olympic Program in Rio de Janeiro for the 2016 Games. Peter Dawson, chief executive of The R&A and joint secretary of the International Golf Federation, was accompanied by professionals Padraig Harrington of Ireland, Michelle Wie of the United States and Suzann Pettersen of Norway for a final presentation to the IOC prior to the vote in Copenhagen in October 2009.

At the time Dawson said “We are extremely grateful that Padraig was able to join us to help communicate the genuine interest world-class players of all ages share in golf becoming an Olympic sport”. “In addition to those golfers who will have an opportunity to compete as Olympic athletes, we are excited for the national golf federations that will reap the benefits from today’s decision in terms of growth and support within their countries,” Dawson said.

“This is a very significant day for golf.” “We have received unprecedented support from international golf organizations throughout this process, as well as from the world’s top-ranked men and women players, which was critical to our success. We also stressed the universal nature of golf, with 60 million people playing the sport in more than 120 countries.”

Based on player feedback, the IGF has proposed a format of 72-hole individual stroke play for both men and women. In case of a tie for either first, second or third place, a three-hole playoff is recommended to determine the medal winner(s). The IGF also has recommended an Olympic field of 60 players for each of the men’s and women’s competition, using the Official World Golf Rankings as a method of determining eligibility.

The top-15 world-ranked players would be eligible for the Olympics, regardless of the number of players from a given country.

Beyond the top 15, players would be eligible based on the world rankings, with a maximum of two eligible players from each country that does not already have two or more players among the top 15. Current world rankings from both the men’s and women’s games show that at approximately 30 countries would be represented in both the men’s and women’s competitions, from all continents.

Rio 2016 Olympic Golf event; who and how many based on the world rankings will be represented.

Here are the latest world rankings August 2012:

 

Official Men’s World Golf Ranking .

	Rank		Player		Pt.s Avg.		Tot. Pts.		# of Evts.		Pts. Lost 2010/11		Pts. Gained 2012
	1		Rory McIlroy,  Nir		11.51		564.08		49		-233.26		408.75
	2		Luke Donald,  Eng		9.29		483.07		52		-299.83		241.44
	3		Tiger Woods,  USA		9.26		370.23		40		-95.08		321.63
	4		Lee Westwood,  Eng		7.13		349.61		49		-216.45		203.23
	5		Webb Simpson,  USA		6.15		319.98		52		-130.82		178.84
	6		Adam Scott,  Aus		6.15		270.65		44		-140.96		153.30
	7		Jason Dufner,  USA		6.09		286.25		47		-90.33		215.93
	8		Bubba Watson,  USA		6.00		287.90		48		-136.97		240.57
	9		Justin Rose,  Eng		5.93		308.47		52		-135.22		236.07
	10		Steve Stricker,  USA		5.72		240.08		42		-140.76		162.36
	11		Louis Oosthuizen,  Zaf		5.72		297.19		52		-117.75		250.13
	12		Keegan Bradley,  USA		5.55		288.67		52		-93.35		207.88
	13		Matt Kuchar,  USA		5.47		284.26		52		-168.04		197.91
	14		Dustin Johnson,  USA		5.29		248.84		47		-161.79		141.72
	15		Graeme McDowell,  Nir		5.06		263.08		52		-167.72		192.35
	16		Zach Johnson,  USA		5.02		255.97		51		-101.04		202.33
	17		Sergio Garcia,  Esp		5.02		240.72		48		-91.72		146.64
	18		Brandt Snedeker,  USA		4.93		256.42		52		-102.32		191.61
	19		Hunter Mahan,  USA		4.87		252.99		52		-141.70		191.88
	20		Nick Watney,  USA		4.74		246.38		52		-137.82		144.93
	21		Ernie Els,  Zaf		4.66		242.15		52		-101.73		218.54
	22		Phil Mickelson,  USA		4.53		226.66		50		-146.82		163.16
	23		Rickie Fowler,  USA		4.08		212.15		52		-104.02		141.12
	24		Charl Schwartzel,  Zaf		4.05		210.70		52		-149.67		87.68
	25		Francesco Molinari,  Ita		4.00		208.07		52		-113.20		156.48
	26		Ian Poulter,  Eng		3.99		207.43		52		-112.22		125.45
	27		Bo Van Pelt,  USA		3.95		205.23		52		-108.29		132.45
	28		Paul Lawrie,  Sco		3.93		204.17		52		-53.78		171.41
	29		Martin Kaymer,  Deu		3.91		191.74		49		-204.30		61.97
	30		Jim Furyk,  USA		3.89		202.25		52		-100.56		166.45
	31		Jason Day,  Aus		3.88		170.83		44		-138.52		65.94
	32		Carl Pettersson,  Swe		3.70		192.45		52		-63.06		175.71
	33		Bill Haas,  USA		3.69		191.98		52		-115.47		123.62
	34		Peter Hanson,  Swe		3.64		189.30		52		-97.60		132.23
	35		John Senden,  Aus		3.40		177.04		52		-82.54		103.60
	36		Nicolas Colsaerts,  Bel		3.39		176.06		52		-56.94		141.39
	37		David Toms,  USA		3.19		149.95		47		-96.66		71.61
	38		K.J. Choi,  Kor		3.05		158.67		52		-128.15		55.16
	39		David Lynn,  Eng		2.99		137.51		46		-44.80		97.12
	40		Martin Laird,  Sco		2.81		146.22		52		-104.61		101.61
	41		Thomas Bjorn,  Dnk		2.78		144.30		52		-89.45		72.39
	42		Geoff Ogilvy,  Aus		2.68		134.02		50		-87.95		68.83
	43		Fredrik Jacobson,  Swe		2.67		130.71		49		-75.78		49.39
	44		Rafael Cabrera Bello,  Esp		2.62		136.18		52		-50.74		111.03
	45		Gonzalo Fdez-Castano,  Esp		2.55		104.67		41		-54.75		42.09
	46		Aaron Baddeley,  Aus		2.55		132.64		52		-81.32		66.05
	47		Bae Sang-moon,  Kor		2.52		130.93		52		-70.74		61.42
	48		Simon Dyson,  Eng		2.51		130.37		52		-90.58		41.22
	49		Alvaro Quiros,  Esp		2.45		115.03		47		-98.49		26.09
	50		Jamie Donaldson,  Wal		2.43		118.98		49		-49.91		82.16

Women’s World Golf Rankings

 

As of 9/3/2012

Rank	Chg	Name	Country	Events	Avg Pts	Tot Pts
1	—	Yani Tseng	TPE	48	14.08	675.90
2	—	Stacy Lewis	USA	53	8.44	447.07
3	—	Na Yeon Choi	KOR	54	8.41	454.38
4	—	Shanshan Feng	CHN	54	8.29	447.42
5	—	Ai Miyazato	JPN	48	7.50	360.00
6	—	Suzann Pettersen	NOR	44	7.12	313.48
7	+1	Sun Ju Ahn	KOR	53	6.45	341.91
8	-1	Amy Yang	KOR	45	6.33	284.71
9	—	Inbee Park	KOR	64	6.16	394.01
10	—	Cristie Kerr	USA	45	6.01	270.43
11	—	Mika Miyazato	JPN	53	5.94	314.67
12	+1	So Yeon Ryu	KOR	51	5.52	281.73
13	-1	Jiyai Shin	KOR	52	5.41	281.57
14	—	Brittany Lincicome	USA	45	5.39	242.49
15	—	I.K. Kim	KOR	43	5.32	228.91
16	—	Azahara Munoz	ESP	51	5.23	266.61
17	—	Sun Young Yoo	KOR	46	5.11	234.93
18	—	Paula Creamer	USA	45	5.10	229.35
19	—	Angela Stanford	USA	46	5.07	233.18
20	—	Chie Arimura	JPN	57	4.71	268.58
21	—	Karrie Webb	AUS	43	4.61	198.02
22	+1	Ji-Hee Lee	KOR	54	4.57	246.93
23	-1	Mi-Jeong Jeon	KOR	61	4.48	273.11
24	—	Catriona Matthew	SCO	41	4.27	175.22
25	—	Brittany Lang	USA	47	4.17	196.00
26	—	Lexi Thompson	USA	33	3.88	135.90
27	—	Anna Nordqvist	SWE	48	3.80	182.44
28	—	Sandra Gal	DEU	49	3.66	179.31
29	+1	Hee Kyung Seo	KOR	51	3.55	180.80
30	-1	Se-Ri Pak	KOR	33	3.49	122.01
31	—	Morgan Pressel	USA	49	3.46	169.56
32	+1	Ha Neul Kim	KOR	39	3.42	133.49
33	-1	Sakura Yokomine	JPN	64	3.39	216.69
34	—	Miki Saiki	JPN	63	3.21	201.95
35	+1	Chella Choi	KOR	43	3.00	128.99
36	-1	Yuri Fudoh	JPN	46	2.98	137.30
37	—	Hee Young Park	KOR	52	2.96	153.84
38	—	Caroline Hedwall	SWE	40	2.87	114.72
39	+5	Soo-Jin Yang	KOR	38	2.71	102.84
40	-1	Maria Hjorth	SWE	43	2.70	116.29
41	+1	Mayu Hattori	JPN	66	2.67	176.53
42	-2	Jenny Shin	KOR	33	2.67	93.41
43	-2	Ritsuko Ryu	JPN	63	2.65	166.70
44	-1	Yukari Baba	JPN	65	2.59	168.30
45	—	Lydia Ko	NZL	10	2.51	88.02
46	—	Bo-Mee Lee	KOR	53	2.51	132.84
47	—	Michelle Wie	USA	42	2.42	101.85
48	+5	Rikako Morita	JPN	66	2.38	156.84
49	-1	Bo Bae Song	KOR	44	2.35	103.52
50	-1	Meena Lee	KOR	51	2.33	118.86