Rory McIlroy will be one of the leading contenders at this month’s Olympics
The 72 hole men’s stroke play golf event at 2024 Olympics will take place at Le Golf National from August1st to 4th. Le Golf National has hosted DP World Tour event Open de France on several occasions and was the venue for 2018 Ryder Cup. Qualification came to an end after a memorable finish between Bryson DeChambeau & Rory McIlroy at US Open and the field of 60 golfers will include major champions Scottie Scheffler, Wyndham Clark, Collin Morikawa, Xander Schauffele, McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Matt Fitzpatrick and Jason Day. The competition at Le Golf National will be shown on NBC and RTE in Ireland.
At 2020 Tokyo Olympics McIlroy came up short for a bronze medal due to losing in a play-off to CT Pan. Since Tokyo McIlroy has won a historic third FedEx Cup, a fifth Race to Dubai title and a fourth Dubai Desert Classic and Wells Fargo Championship. The Northern Irishman will take time to get over US Open disappointment before playing Genesis Scottish Open and Open Championship. Four-time major champion finished third at 2016 Open de France and will participate in his second Olympics at Le Golf National.
Shane Lowry participated in 2020 Olympics and will represent Ireland for a second time at Le Golf National. Lowry has fond memories of Open de France as this is the venue where he received his first pay check as a professional in 2009 due to a tied 50th finish. The Offaly native enjoys a difficult test especially as he won both 2019 Open Championship and 2022 BMW PGA Championship. Lowry partnered McIlroy in Zurich Classic of New Orleans victory and will head to next month’s links swing off a top 20 finish at Pinehurst.
Schauffele won the gold medal at 2020 Olympics and will head to Le Golf National as defending champion. 2024 has already been special for Schauffele especially with winning his first major at Valhalla in May. Morikawa finished tied fourth in 2020 Olympics and has returned to good form this year with two top five finishes at Masters & PGA Championship and a tied 14th at Pinehurst to qualify for Le Golf National. The world number one Scheffler will head to France as outright favourite due to winning an extraordinary 11 tournaments in three years. The final USA player to qualify for France is 2023 US Open champion Clark.
Ludvig Aberg qualified to represent Sweden at Le Golf National. Aberg is currently in great form especially with being 36 hole leader of US Open and a runner-up finish at Augusta to Scheffler in April. Fleetwood won 2017 Open de France, partnered Francesco Molinari to four victory’s at 2018 Ryder Cup and will be representing England in France. Two-time major champion Rahm missed the US Open due to an injury but will have extra motivation to win gold at France due to being a member of LIV Tour. Nick Taylor will represent Canada and has played excellent this year especially when he won Waste Management Phoenix Open in February.