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The LA Olympics may be two years away, but qualifying in one highlight individual sport — golf — begins this week.
The 60-player women’s golf field will be determined by world rankings come June 5, 2028. The 60-man field will be filled through world rankings on June 19, 2028.
Since world rankings are determined through a two-year rolling window of results, this week’s worldwide women’s tournaments will be the first taking place in the Olympic qualification window. The men’s qualifying window starts after next week’s U.S. Open.
Though this week’s LPGA tournament is a team event without ranking points, other international tournaments on tap do offer ranking points that will determine the (very, very) early leaders in Olympic qualifying.
Rankings put more weight on the most recent and most prestigious tournaments, so playing well in early 2028 and in the majors will be critical for Olympic qualifying.
As with the last three Olympic golf events, the 2028 fields will include the top four women and top four men per country if they are all ranked in the top 15 in the world. Once past the top 15, a nation can have a maximum of two women and two men.
Competition for the U.S. spots is expected to be fierce. There are currently six American women in the top 32 in the world.
If the Olympic field was named today, the automatic American qualifiers would be Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Nelly Korda (No. 1 in the world), and Lauren Coughlin (No. 14) with Angel Yin missing out by one spot at No. 16. Major champions Lilia Vu, Allisen Corpuz and Jennifer Kupcho also wouldn’t make it.
On the men’s side, the current top Americans are Scottie Scheffler (No. 1, Paris Olympic gold medalist), Cameron Young (No. 3), Russell Henley (No. 5) and J.J. Spaun (No. 9). Collin Morikawa (No. 10) and Xander Schauffele (No. 12, the Tokyo Olympic gold medalist) are among those who wouldn’t qualify if the field was chosen today.
The Olympic golf gold medalists since the sport’s return are Inbee Park, Korda and Lydia Ko for the women and Justin Rose, Schauffele and Scheffler for the men.
A new wrinkle for LA28 is the debut of a mixed-gender team event that will feature players who are already qualified individually. The field will be 16 nations with one woman and one man per team.
Golf at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics
Everything to know about golf at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, including event guide, venue and daily schedule.
