The First Look: Men's Olympic golf competition

Golf returns to the Olympics for the third time in the modern era and will head to a prominent venue that is no stranger to golf’s premier stage.

Le Golf National, which hosted the 2018 Ryder Cup, will welcome 60 of the world’s top male golfers (with the women's competition happening next week) including world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, a six-time winner this season, and world No. 2 Xander Schauffele, fresh off his victory at The Open Championship.

Here’s everything else you need to know as the men's Olympic golf competition readies to commence in Paris.

FIELD: The International Golf Federation (IGF) uses the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) to create the Olympic Golf Ranking (OGR) as a method of determining eligibility. The top 15 world-ranked players are eligible for the Olympics, with a limit of four players from a given country. Following that, players are eligible based on the world rankings, with a maximum of up to two eligible players from each country that does not already have two or more players among the top 15.

FIELD NOTES: World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler leads the way – and the American contingent – as he looks to add an Olympic gold to his 2024 trophy case, which is bursting at the seams already. This year’s PGA Championship and Open Championship winner Xander Schaueffele is looking to successfully defend his gold medal, while major champions Collin Morikawa and Wyndham Clark round out the American foursome … Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry make up Team Ireland, with Lowry coming in as the flag bearer for his country in the Opening Ceremony. McIlroy was part of the seven-man playoff for a bronze medal in Tokyo (“I’ve never tried so hard to finish third in my life”) and also part of the winning European Ryder Cup team in 2018 … Along with McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood (United Kingdom), Thorbjørn Olesen (Denmark), Jon Rahm (Spain), and Alex Noren (Sweden) return to Le Golf National after being part of Team Europe six years ago … Past winners of the Open de France at Le Golf National competing this week include Guido Migliozzi (2022), Noren (2018), and Fleetwood (2017) … Other PGA TOUR winners this season competing in the Olympics include Nick Taylor (Canada), Matthieu Pavon (France), Stephan Jaeger (Germany), and Hideki Matsuyama (Japan) … C.T. Pan returns to the Olympics after capturing bronze in Japan.

UP FOR GRABS: Gold medalists receive the following – exemptions into all major championships during the 2025 season, exemption into THE PLAYERS Championship and The Sentry in 2025 (provided the gold medalist is a member of the PGA TOUR at the time of his victory in the men’s Olympic golf competition), and Official World Golf Ranking points.

HOW IT WORKS: The men’s Olympic golf competition will be a 72-hole, stroke-play tournament. If two players are tied for the lead after 72 holes, a hole-by-hole playoff will be conducted to determine the gold and silver medals, or if three or more athletes are tied for the first position, a playoff will be conducted to determine the gold, silver and bronze medals. If two or more players are tied for the second position, a playoff will be conducted to determine the silver and bronze medals. If two or more athletes are tied for the third position, a playoff will be conducted for the bronze medal.

Only one gold, one silver and one bronze medal will be awarded.

COURSE: Le Golf National (Albatros course), par 71, 7,174 yards. Opened in 1990, the club is located in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines – about 25 miles from the Olympic Village. The club has hosted the DP World Tour’s Open de France in 29 of its last 31 iterations, and it hosted the Ryder Cup in 2018, won by Europe. The course is known for its slick greens, tight and undulating fairways, and links-style bunkers. The signature stretch is the final four holes, all surrounded by water, and the course emphasizes accuracy versus distance. Since 2010, the Open de France winning score has averaged roughly 10 under.

LAST TIME: AmericanXander Schauffele shot a 4-under 67 to win gold by one over Rory Sabbatini of Slovakia. Schauffele rolled in a 6-footer for birdie on the penultimate hole in Tokyo before making a 4-foot par putt for the one-shot win. It was a wild finish in Japan – when the final group walked onto the 18th green, nine players were in the mix for a medal. Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama was part of a seven-man playoff for the bronze but C.T. Pan, who shot a final-round 63, ended up winning the third-place prize on the fourth playoff hole. Sabbatini, the silver medalist, set the Olympic record with a final-round 61 to rocket up the leaderboard.

How to follow (all times ET)

Men's Olympic golf competition: Thursday, Aug. 1-Sunday, Aug. 4

• Thursday-Saturday: 3 a.m.-12 p.m. (GOLF Channel, Peacock)
• Sunday: 3 a.m.-12:30 p.m. (GOLF Channel, Peacock)
  • Medal ceremony in final 30 minutes

Women's Olympic golf competition: Wednesday, Aug. 7-Saturday, Aug. 10

• Wednesday-Friday: 3 a.m.-12 p.m. (GOLF Channel, Peacock)
• Saturday: 3 a.m.-12:30 p.m. (GOLF Channel, Peacock)
  • Medal ceremony in final 30 minutes

Subject to change.