Strong Asia-Pacific Presence for Tokyo Olympics

Malaysian Gavin Green will be among the Asian line-up for the Tokyo Olympics.

Lausanne, Switzerland: The extended three-year qualification process for the men’s golf competition at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games has been completed with the publication of the Final Olympic Golf Rankings.

With his US Open victory on Sunday, Jon Rahm of Spain became world number one and jumped ahead of Justin Thomas of the United States into the number one position of the Olympic Rankings.

Americans finished second to fifth with Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Xander Schauffele and Bryson DeChambeau, respectively. The United States is the only country with more than two qualifiers for the 60-player field, which will compete at Kasumigaseki Country Club from July 29-August 1.

The men’s rankings underline the diversity of the field with 36 countries represented, including the following players from Asia Pacific: Hideki Matsuyama and Rikuya Hoshino (Japan); Im Sung-jae and Kim Si-woo (Korea); Jazz Janewattananond and Gunn Charoenkul (Thailand); CT Pan (Chinese Taipei), Juvic Pagunsan (Philippines), Gavin Green (Malaysia), Carl Yuan and Wu Ashun (China), Anirban Lahiri (India), Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman (Australia) and Ryan Fox (New Zealand).

Zurich Classic Of New Orleans - Final Round

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - APRIL 25: Marc Leishman of Australia and Cameron Smith of Australia pose with the trophy after winning in a playoff hole during the final round of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans at TPC Louisiana on April 25, 2021 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

The men’s qualification system for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games commenced on July 1, 2018 and originally was to have concluded on June 22, 2020, while the women’s was to have run from July 8, 2018 through to June 29, 2020.

However, following the postponement of the Olympics to 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the International Golf Federation (IGF) and International Olympic Committee announced in April 2020 an adjustment to the qualifying system where athletes would accumulate Olympic Ranking points through June 2021.

The top-15 world-ranked players are eligible for the Olympics, with a limit of four players from a given country. Beyond the top-15, players are 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. The host country is guaranteed a spot, as is each of the five continents of the Olympics.

The women’s rankings will be finalised after this week’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. The 60-player women’s competition will be held at Kasumigaseki CC from August 4-7.

Once the women’s Olympic Golf Rankings are finalised, the International Golf Federation (IGF) will send confirmation of the men’s and women’s quota places to the National Olympic Committees.

The NOCs will then confirm use of allocated quota places to the IGF by July 1 and the IGF, in turn, will reallocate all unused quota places before the Tokyo 2020 Sport Entries Deadline on July 5.

The IGF will publish a final entries list of 60 names for both the men’s and women’s events on Tuesday, July 6, which will ratify all the competitors for the respective fields at the Olympic Games.