At the 2024 Paris Olympics, golf will be a part of the program for the third time in a row, following its comeback in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and a successful staging in Tokyo in 2021.
Just as with both of those prior Olympics in Brazil and Japan, golf will be played with two separate golf tournaments -- one for men and one for women. The tournaments will start on August 1 at Le Golf National just outside of Paris proper in France. Each tournament is identical except for the dates of the events and that men are competing in one and women in the other.
Let's take a look at the format for both Olympic golf tournaments.
2024 Paris Olympics golf tournament format
The format for both the men's and women's Olympic golf tournaments is identical and nearly the same as you would see on the PGA Tour and DP World Tour for the men most weeks, or on the LPGA Tour for the women.
The tournaments are comprised of four 18-hole rounds of golf, played in four consecutive days. For the men, those dates are Thursday, August 1, through Sunday, August 4. For the women, they are Wednesday, August 7, through Saturday, August 10.
There are 60 players in each field. The players were selected based on the International Golf Federation's Olympic golf ranking (which is the Official World Golf Ranking for men and the Rolex Women's World Golf Ranking for women). For the men, the cutoff date was June 18, and for the women, the cutoff date was June 25. Points were earned in sanctioned tournaments around the world for all players. Then the top 60 players at the cutoff date for each event were selected.
However, there are caveats to the selection. Countries are not allowed to have more than two players in the field, except if a country has more than two players inside the top 15 of the final Olympic golf ranking. Then that country is allowed as many as four players to compete in the field, provided they're all in the top 15 in the ranking. For example, on the men's side, there are four American men in the field because there were four men in the top 15. Had there been more than four American men in the top 15, every player outside that fourth slot would not compete in the field.
As for the tournament itself, players are grouped together for each of the first two days based on a randomized draw, with players competing together for all 18 holes that day. Unlike in most professional golf tournaments, a cut is not made after two total rounds are completed by all players, meaning that all 60 players in each field are eligible to complete the tournament's four rounds.
In the final two rounds of the tournament, grouping are made and sent out in the reverse order of a player's score against par -- the expected score an expert player should shoot for a given hole and a given round -- and in comparison to the field. The worst-scoring players go out first, with the best-scoring players through the prior rounds going out last.
After four rounds are completed by all players, the player with the lowest aggregate score of the four rounds wins the gold medal. The silver medal goes to the second-place player, with the bronze going to the third-place player. If there are is a tie for first, second or third place after 72 holes, then there is a hole-by-hole playoff to determine those medal winners which begins immediately after the completion of 72 holes. The players compete hole by hole until one player has a lower score than the other(s) in the playoff.
