Team USA’s projected men’s golf team bears uncanny resemblance to final PLAYERS leaderboard

Is it a coincidence, or is it no surprise that THE PLAYERS Championship’s final leaderboard bears a remarkable resemblance to Team USA's projected starting four for the 2024 Paris Olympics?

Whether it’s a foreshadowing of the Olympic podium this summer or just wishful thinking, it appears the top four names on Sunday’s leaderboard at TPC Sawgrass could mirror the Americans’ starting lineup for the Olympic men’s golf competition, set for Aug. 1-4 at Le Golf National.

Back-to-back PLAYERS champion and world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler leads the Olympic Golf Rankings for the American men as of March 18, followed by No. 4 Wyndham Clark and No. 5 Xander Schauffele, both of whom finished runner-up – just one stroke back – to Scheffler. Fellow PLAYERS runner-up and reigning Open champion Brian Harman boosted his Olympic chances significantly following his finish at TPC Sawgrass, moving to No. 8 in the Official World Golf Ranking.

The top-15 players in the OWGR as of June 17 – following the conclusion of the U.S. Open at Pinehurst Resort & Country Club – will be eligible for the Olympics, with a limit of four players from a given country. Not only is Team USA projected to receive the full four spots available to a country, but also with eight players in the OWGR’s current top 15, the horse race for qualification has been tight.

“If you look at our team, the world rankings are a bit of a free-for-all right now for the American side,” Schauffele – the Olympic gold medalist from Tokyo 2020 – said Tuesday at the Valspar Championship.

An appearance on the U.S. Olympic Team would be a first for the trio of Scheffler, reigning U.S. Open champion Clark and Harman, all of whom started 2024 inside the Olympic qualifying standings. But Harman was leapfrogged in February by world No. 7 Patrick Cantlay, following Cantlay’s T4 finish at The Genesis Invitational.

Schauffele, however, started the calendar year on the outside looking in, but with the OWGR being a two-year rolling ranking, Schauffele’s hot start on TOUR (7-for-7 cuts made with five top-10s) has vaulted him back into qualifying position. Schauffele holds the third spot, while Cantlay sits in fourth for Team USA. But according to golf rankings guru @VC606, who goes by “Nosferatu” on X, Harman is in prime position to move back inside the qualification following his T2 at THE PLAYERS, where Cantlay finished T65.

“People have asked me, ‘You’re not exempt for the Olympics?’ And I was like, ‘Do you think Michael Phelps was exempt?’” Schauffele said with a laugh Tuesday. “He had to swim and qualify every single time he made it back to the Olympics … I’m in right now, and I intend on still playing at a very high level and qualifying for Paris and getting back and giving myself a run at it again.”

With three more Signature Events (RBC Heritage, Wells Fargo Championship and the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday), where the OWGR offers a greater percentage of available points to top finishers, and three more majors (Masters, PGA Championship, U.S. Open), which carry the most rankings points, expect the Americans’ race to Paris to be exciting right to the pine-straw finish at Pinehurst. Stay tuned.