Golf was first played at the Olympic Games in Paris in 1900, only to be removed after 1904 – it returns in 2016 after more than a century’s absence.
By now we all know about the players who have pulled out of the Olympics in Rio. But what about who’s playing? Contrary to what it seems like in the media, golf in the Olympics will go on. There will be stars in attendance too. Not mega-stars like Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy but stars nonetheless.
“I’ve just been excited,” said one of Britain’s contenders Justin Rose. “I can’t really explain from my point of view. I’m excited about it, treating it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I understand that it’s been tough scheduling, and I understand all of that side of things. But when it’s once every four years, I think it’s something you can certainly make an exception for. That’s been my attitude towards it. Just being a part of Team GB, in a sense you feel like you’re part of something bigger than just your individual sport as well.”
Here’s a look at Team Great Britain as well as all the other squads for this 60-player field. Each player’s field ranking is in parentheses (i.e. Bubba Watson is the highest-ranked player).
United States
- Bubba Watson (1)
- Rickie Fowler (3)
- Patrick Reed (7)
- Matt Kuchar (8)
Sweden
- Henrik Stenson (2)
- David Lingmerth (14)
Great Britain
- Danny Willett (4)
- Justin Rose (5)
Spain
- Sergio Garcia (6)
- Rafael Cabrera-Bello (9)
South Korea
- Byeong Hun An (10)
- Jeunghun Wang (26)
New Zealand
- Danny Lee (12)
- Ryan Fox (44)
Argentina
- Emiliano Grillo (13)
- Fabian Gomez (25)
Denmark
- Soren Kjeldsen (15)
- Thorbjorn Olesen (21)
Austria
- Bernd Wiesberger (16)
Germany
- Martin Kaymer (17)
- Alex Cejka (39)
Thailand
- Kiradech Aphibarnrat (18)
India
- Anirban Lahiri (19)
- SSP Chawrasia (44)
Netherlands
- Joost Luiten (21)
Belgium
- Thomas Pieters (22)
- Nicolas Colsaerts (33)
South Africa
- Jaco Van Zyl (23)
- Brandon Stone (28)
Australia
- Scott Hend (26)
- Marcus Fraser (27)
Japan
- Yuta Ikeda (29)
- Shingo Katayama (30)
France
- Gregory Bourdy (31)
- Julien Quesne (32)
Portugal
- Ricardo Gouveia (34)
Canada
- David Hearn (35)
- Graham DeLaet (40)
China
- Wu Ashun (36)
- Hao Tong Li (38)
Philippines
- Miguel Tabuena (37)
Paraguay
- Fabrizio Zanotti (41)
Ireland
- Padraig Harrington (42)
- Seamus Power (50)
Malaysia
- Danny Chia (45)
Finland
- Mikko Ilonen (46)
- Roope Kakko (53)
Venezuela
- Jhonattan Vegas (47)
Chile
- Felipe Aguilar (48)
Taiwan
- Cheng Tsung Pan (49)
- Wen-Tang Lin (57)
Brazil
- Adilson da Silva (50)
Norway
- Espen Kofstad (52)
Italy
- Nino Bertasio (54)
- Matteo Manassero (60)
Bangladesh
- Siddikur Rahman (55)
Colombia
- Camilo Villegas (56)
Malaysia
- Gavin Kyle Green (58)
Mexico
- Rodolfo Cazaubon (59)
What’s the format?
Golf is making its Olympic comeback in Rio after an absence of 112 years.
The format is the standard four rounds of 18-hole stroke play scheduled over four consecutive days. The player with the lowest cumulative score will win gold. There is no halfway cut as only 60 players are in each field.
Who are the favourites?
More than half of the men’s world’s top 10 pulled out citing the Zika virus, leaving American world number five Bubba Watson as the top-ranked player.
Team-mate Rickie Fowler and Europeans Henrik Stenson – the new Open champion – and Sergio Garcia should also challenge, along with Danny Willett and Justin Rose.
When is it on?
The men’s event runs from 11-14 August, and the
