2021 Olympics Fan Guide: Everything you need to know about golf

Golf is back again at the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo and we have a look at the men’s and women’s events and what fans can expect to see in the quest for gold.

After over 100 years of not being part of the Olympics, golf made its return to the games in Rio back in 2016 with men’s and women’s events. Now it’s back again for the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo for what promises to be an even more entertaining and, perhaps, prestigious affair.

60 of the best golfers (both men and women) in the world representing 42 total countries will head to Kasumigaseki Country Club to tee it up for a chance at a gold medal.

But with this just the second year back at the Olympics for golf, fans might need a primer to prepare for the games. Don’t worry; we’ve got you covered.

2021 Olympics: Golfers to know

Becoming the first male to win a major championship at The Masters put the spotlight firmly on Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama as he prepares to play in his home country. He’s downplayed the importance of that but, as one of only two Japanese golfers in the field (Rikuya Hoshino), the pressure will be immense.

Elsewhere on the men’s side, Jon Rahm has been on a dominant tear highlighted by his first major win at the U.S. Open. The Spaniard will surely be the favorite to win in Tokyo but the quartet of American golfers — Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Xander Schauffele, Bryson DeChambeau — in the field are the next highest-ranked players in the world who will be nipping at Rahm’s heels.

And while other notables like Rory McIlroy, young up-and-comer Viktor Hovland and a savvy veteran such as Paul Casey will all have their say, the most intriguing duo is the South Korean contingent, Sungjae Im and Si Woo Kim. Both players skipped The Open Championship to prepare for the 2021 Olympics as winning a medal would leave them exempt from their country’s mandatory military service, which would allow them to continue their PGA Tour careers without hiatus.

As for the women, we should start with the fact that the three medalists from 2016 — Inbee Park (South Korea, gold), Lydia Ko (New Zealand, silver), Shanshan Feng (China, bronze) — all return, the same of which can’t be said for the men’s side. All three women remain inside the top 20 ranked players in the world and could contend again.

That being said, they’ll likely have to get past Nelly Korda to make that happen. Representing the United States (along with her sister, Jessica, in addition to Lexi Thompson and Danielle Kang), Korda has been the best player on the LPGA Tour this season by a mile, recently winning her first major at the Women’s PGA Championship at only 22 years old. As the top-ranked player in the world, she’s the woman to beat in Tokyo.

2021 Olympics: Rules summary

While a team format or match play format would make sense given the sport and structure, the medalists will instead be decided by a standard 72-hole stroke play tournament played over four rounds with one round per day. If there is a tie, a three-hole playoff will determine the winner.

2021 Olympics: The elevator pitch for Olympic golf

Any golf fan is wise enough to tell you that the Olympics aren’t on the same level as one of the four major championships in the sport, for both the men’s and women’s sides of the coin. However, that shouldn’t wholly diminish the unique honor of representing a country in sport, especially when it comes to golf.

Considering that the Ryder Cup, played every two years, is one of the most-viewed and hotly contested events in the sport, country (or continental) dividing lines are nothing new to golf. It’s a prevalent staple of golf that often isn’t there in other major sports such as basketball, football, baseball and so on.

Furthermore, the return of golf to the Olympics in 2016 has raised the bar. On the men’s side, not only did the three medalists from Rio not qualify but nine of the top 10 players in the world will be playing, a huge uptick after the top four in the world passed on going to Rio. And for the women, all three medalists return to defend but there are some newcomers, namely Nelly Korda, who can crash the party in dramatic fashion.

With national pride baked naturally into golf already and as the fields are much stronger than they were in the sport’s return to the Olympics in 2016, the fireworks are already lit for Tokyo at Kasumigaseki Country Club.