U.S. Golfers Xander Schauffele, Scottie Scheffler, Wyndham Clark and Collin Morikawa To Tee Off in Paris

Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion Xander Schauffele and world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler will lead the U.S. Men’s Olympic Golf Team competing at the Olympic Games Paris 2024.

Two-time major champion Collin Morikawa and 2023 U.S. Open winner Wyndham Clark will round out the foursome representing USA Golf at the four-round, individual stroke-play Olympic tournament, Aug. 1-4. Professional golf’s premier shot makers will be chasing birdies and Olympic medals at Golf National, located about 25 miles southwest of the French capital.

Sixty male golfers secured their Olympic spots following a two-year qualification process and based upon the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR), all finalized after the U.S. Open in Pinehurst, North Carolina, on Sunday, June 16.

Schauffele triumphed at the PGA Championship in Louisville, Kentucky, on May 20, attaining an elusive first major tournament title. The 30-year-old San Diego golfer will be seeking to defend his Olympic gold medal that he won at the Kasumigaseki Country Club just outside of Tokyo, on Aug. 1, 2021.

“It's super special – it's always an honor to represent your country in any given tournament or event, so it was really cool to share this with my family, the history and what the Olympics mean to my Dad, after winning the gold medal,” Schauffele said, asked to reflect upon Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 and his upcoming return to the Games.

“Qualifying was my first goal this year – it’s a very hard team to qualify for on this U.S. side. That was a really big goal of mine and now I’m really looking forward to competing again.”

Schauffele is currently the world No. 3 player, ranked only behind his Olympic teammate Scheffler and four-time major champion Rory McIlroy. He says he is excited to embrace the Olympic spirit in Paris, especially considering the COVID-19 related restrictions imposed three years ago in Japan.

“I think the fans will be awesome and playing in France will be very cool – and we weren’t allowed to go see other events (in Tokyo). I’ve already talked to Wyndham, Scottie and Collin, maybe buddying up and going to watch some other sports,” he said, while informing that track and field is high on the list.

Scheffler is the hottest golfer on the planet, attaining victories in five of his previous nine tournaments, including the prestigious Masters Tournament and Players Championship. 

The 27-year-old Dallas resident said he is thrilled to represent the stars and stripes on foreign soil and like Schauffele, enjoy all that the Olympic Games have to offer.

“Playing for your country is always extremely exciting and it will be pretty surreal doing it on the Olympic stage,” Scheffler said. “It’s also good bragging rights for people that tell me golf is not a sport – I can say it’s an Olympic sport,” he says, with a laugh.

“I’m just excited to go there and experience the Olympics, see some other sports, go to the Village, see other athletes and just be part of it all. It should be a fun, special week.”

Clark, 30, and Morikawa, 27, solidified their places in Paris, currently ranked fifth and seventh, respectively, in the world golf rankings.

Morikawa is onboard for his second Olympic Games. He narrowly missed a medal in Tokyo, coming up one stroke short to C.T. Pan (TPE) on the fifth hole of an unprecedented seven-player bronze medal playoff. 

The Los Angeles pro golfer says that practice rounds with teammates will be essential for devising course strategy, but ultimately, like most weeks on tour, Olympic golf is every man for himself.

“In Tokyo, three or four of us would go out and play practice rounds together, but at the end of the day it is still an individual competition,” said Morikawa. “Caddies are definitely going to scout the course together, sharing information as if it were a Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup. But when it comes down to it on Thursday, it’s our own individual event.”

The U.S. will be the only country represented by the maximum number of four players, as the International Golf Federation (IGF) criteria allows up to four qualifiers, only if those players are ranked among the top 15 in the world. A nation can qualify up to two golfers if they are ranked outside the top 15.

Other elite golfers poised to contend for Olympic medals include McIlroy (IRL), Ludvig Åberg (SWE), Viktor Hovland (NOR), Jon Rahm (ESP), Hideki Matsuyama (JPN), Tommy Fleetwood (GBR), and Matthieu Pavon (FRA), who will surely be cheered on by flag-waving French fans.

Thirty-three nations across six continents will be represented at the men’s Olympic tournament.

Team USA’s men’s foursome will be driving, pitching and putting for a medal at a third consecutive Games. While Schauffele was king at Tokyo 2020, propelled by a clutch 17th hole birdie putt, PGA Tour veteran Matt Kuchar earned a bronze medal at the Olympic Games Rio 2016 tournament.

“We’re trying to go over there and earn a medal for the USA, so it will be a close-knit circle between us,” Scheffler said.

Golf National also served as the venue for the 2018 Ryder Cup, the bi-annual match play showdown between the U.S. and Europe. The American golfers were far from at their best that year, losing the three-day match, 17.5 – 10.5. 

Schauffele didn’t make the 12-member U.S. squad, short of qualifying and overlooked among four captain’s picks. This time around, it will be a different story.

Opened in 1991 and owned by the French Golf Federation, the par-72 L’Abatros course is expected to play 7,331 yards in length. Daunting water hazards, vast undulating fairways, slick greens and innumerable links-style bunkers will provide drama and significant risk for the Olympic golfers.

“The biggest challenge will be learning the property – I might give myself a few extra days in between viewing events,” Schauffele informs. “Maybe walk the course, chip and putt around it, but I think learning it is the most important thing and just getting comfortable before I tee off on Thursday.”

Scheffler also discussed his gameplan, exuding confidence, yet taking a somewhat relaxed attitude concerning the unfamiliar course.

“I’ll approach it the same way I would a tournament here – I’ll probably play a practice round with the guys, just because we’re friends, not for any other reason,” said the world No. 1 player. “When you play a practice round together, you discuss things, just by the nature of being out there together.”

Olympic golf has most recently been contested at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, after a 112-year hiatus dating to 1904. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) approved golf’s return to the Olympic program at the 2009 IOC Session in Copenhagen.

The sport was officially recognized and first featured at the Olympic Games Paris 1900 before the long sojourn until Rio 2016. Americans Charles Sands and Margaret Abbott won gold medals at those first Olympic tournaments played at the Compiègne Golf Club.

It will be a touch of Déjà vu if Schauffele, Scheffler, Morikawa, or Clark could join Sands and Abbott in the record books as Olympic golf champions in Paris, some 124-years later.