Many of the world’s best players are in the men’s golf field for the Olympics in Paris, with the competition taking place at Le Golf National between 1 and 4 August.
In total, eight of the world’s top 10 will compete in the Games, including two-time Masters champion Scottie Scheffler and four-time Major winner Rory McIlroy. Despite ongoing difficulties in accumulating world ranking points, there are still half a dozen LIV Golf stars from four nationalities in the 60-player field, too.
Here are the players from the circuit who have confirmed their places at the Games, and how they got there.
Joaquin Niemann – Chile
Joaquin Niemann makes his second appearance at the Olympics
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The Torque GC captain is having the best year of his career, with two LIV Golf wins, appearances in two Majors with The Open to come, and now a slot at the Olympics thanks to his status as the highest-ranked Chilean.
That’s been helped by some excellent performances in world ranking events, including victory at the Australian Open last December.
Many would have expected that the second Chilean from the men’s game to make the team would be Niemann’s Torque GC teammate Mito Pereira, but he has now been overtaken by Korn Ferry Tour star Cristobal Del Solar in the world rankings, who is heading to Paris instead.
Niemann also played at the 2020 Olympics, where he finished T10.
Abraham Ancer – Mexico
Abraham Ancer finished T14 at the 2020 Games in Tokyo
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Mexico is one of two countries represented solely by LIV golfers in the men’s field. Abraham Ancer was 20th in the world rankings when the qualification process began on 17 June 2022. However, since moving to LIV Golf, he has slipped to 312th, but it’s still enough for him to make the team.
This will be Ancer’s second Olympics appearance after he played in the 2020 Games in Tokyo, where he finished T14 with Viktor Hovland.
He heads into the 2024 Games during a spell of excellent form that included four top-10 finishes in the opening eight events of the LIV Golf season. One of those was his maiden LIV Golf win, in Hong Kong.
Carlos Ortiz – Mexico
Carlos Ortiz maintained a high enough world ranking to qualify
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The third Torque GC player heading to the Games is Carlos Ortiz. Like fellow Mexican Ancer, he also has recent success under his belt, with victory at LIV Golf Houston.
Away from the circuit, Ortiz has been keen to play world ranking events, which included victory at the 2023 V Copa Prissa on the Gira De Golf Professional Mexicana, which moved him 11 places up the rankings. He followed that up with a win in the International Series Oman and a T10 at the International Series Macau to ensure he’s high enough, in 240th, to book his spot.
This will be his second appearance at the Games, after finishing T42 in 2020.
Adrian Meronk – Poland
Adrian Meronk is the one Polish player from men’s golf heading to the Games
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Poland is not known for producing large numbers of men’s professional golfers, so Meronk’s place was never seriously in doubt, That’s despite his world ranking having fallen since joining LIV Golf earlier in the year and the fact Poland is one of the few competing nations with only one men’s place.
The World No.73 has three top-10 finishes with LIV Golf, including runner-up in Houston, but away from the League he has struggled so far in 2024, with successive missed cuts at the three Majors.
He will be looking for an improvement on his performance at the Tokyo Olympics, where he finished T51.
Jon Rahm – Spain
Jon Rahm is one of eight players from the world’s top 10 in the fieldd
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The Spaniard is one of the eight players in the world’s top 10 heading to Paris, where he will make his maiden Olympics appearance.
After the high standards Rahm set in 2023, with his first Masters title among three other victories, it hasn’t gone quite as well for him since the turn of the year, but he still achieved top-10 finishes in each of his first seven LIV Golf starts.
However, he was disappointing at both April’s Masters and May’s PGA Championship, while to compound his frustrations, he had to withdraw from the US Open with a foot injury.
He won’t be short of chances to put that right in the lead-up to the Games, though, with two LIV Golf events in July coming either side of The Open at Royal Troon. If he can recover some momentum before the action begins at Le Golf National, he could be a serious contender for the gold medal.
David Puig – Spain
David Puig has been in excellent form
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Among a host of higher-profile LIV Golf players, Puig is rapidly emerging as one of its brightest talents.
The Spaniard finished third at LIV Golf Houston, but he had made a solid impression before that, albeit largely away from the League. Puig has been one of the few LIV Golf stars who has seen his world ranking improve since joining the circuit, helped by two Asian Tour victories and a string of other top-10 finishes to secure his maiden appearance at the Olympics.
