Tokyo Olympics Golf Primer

The 2020 summer Olympics in Tokyo is finally set to take place, with the opening ceremonies kicking off the games on July 23^rd…2021.

This is the second Summer Olympic in a row that golf will be played. The sport returned to the Olympics in 2016, which was the first time the event was held at the summer games in over 100 years. During the 2016 Olympics in Rio, it was Justin Rose on the men’s side and Inbee Park on the women’s side who took home the gold in the event.

In its history, the United States has dominated the podium in both the men’s and women’s event. In the only three other times golf has been played at the Olympics, the United States tops the historical leaderboard with 11 medals won, which includes a record three gold medals. The 11 medals are eight ahead of Great Britain for second on the list.

This year’s event is set to take place at the Kasumigaseki County Club in Kawagoe, which features two 18-hole courses, the East Course and the West Course. Both the men’s and women’s tournaments are scheduled to be played at the East Course.

Keep reading to find out how the golf event will be run:

Olympics Golf Date and Time:

The men’s individual stroke play is set to begin on July 29^th at 7:30 a.m. local time (July 28^th 6:30 p.m. EST). The tournament will run each day from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. local time, with the final day scheduled for August 1^st, where the medal ceremony will take place right after the final round concludes.

The women’s individual stroke play is set to begin on August 4^th at 7:30 a.m. local time (August 3^rd 6:30 p.m. EST). The tournament will also run on the same timeline as the men’s, with each day concluding at 4 p.m. local time. The final round is scheduled for August 7^th, with the medal ceremony taking place right after the conclusion of the final round.

Format:

The format is of a typical PGA or LPGA tournament on any given week, which is individual stroke play. This means that both the men’s and women’s event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics will be held over four consecutive days, with one round of 18 holes played each day. There will be no cut line at the halfway point of the event, so no golfers will be eliminated.

The golfer with the lowest score after all four rounds will win the gold, while the golfers with the second and third lowest scores with take home the respective silver and bronze medals.

Countries Involved:

Both the men’s and women’s field will feature 60 golfers. Here is the breakdown of the countries involved in each event.

Note: A maximum of four players can compete from a single country.

Men’s Golf Field at the Tokyo Olympics (number of participants):

Women’s Golf Field at the Tokyo Olympics:

Who to Watch For

All three medalists from the men’s 2016 Olympics will not be participating in this year’s event (Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson, Matt Kuchar). This means all three eventual winners on the men’s side will be taking home their first Olympic medals.

For the women’s event, reigning Olympic champion Inbee Park of South Korea will be in Tokyo to defend her Gold medal. 2016 Silver medalist Lydia Ko of New Zealand and bronze medalist Shanshan Feng of China will also be taking part in the event for the second Olympics in a row. While there’s no way to guarantee that everyone to medal on the women’s side at the Tokyo Olympics will be doing so for the first time, the field will be insanely competitive.

There are plenty of names to watch out for in the men’s field with a great chance to win a medal in Tokyo. The list of golfers to watch includes four-time Major champion and 2019 PGA Tour Player of the Year Rory McIlroy, current world number two and 2021 U.S. Open champion Jon Rahm, 2021 Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama, who is playing in his home country of Japan, and Major champions Justin Thomas and Bryson DeChambeau of the United States.

In the women’s field, there are also a lot of names to look out for, including the defending gold and silver medalists. Current world number three Inbee Park is one of the favorites to win and capture back-to-back gold medals, while world number 10 Lydia Ko is also a favorite to take home another medal at the Olympics. Other names to watch out for is world number one and 2021 Women’s PGA champion Nelly Korda, world number 13 and Nelly’s sister, Jessica Korda, two-time Major champion Ko Jin-young, and world number four Kim Sei-young.