Summer Olympics: Early Favorites for Golf at the Olympics

Golf is back in the Summer Olympics for the first time since 1904, so here’s an early look at the countries that could win the gold medal.

As I sit here in the frigid cold that is the Chicago winter, I can’t help but to think of warmer places and for that we go to Rio de Janeiro where the 2016 Summer Olympics will take place in less than a year.

While the teams aren’t officially set for the Olympics, we can still predict who will be playing in the events and get a better understanding of which country looks the most dangerous.

The most golfers a country can have on their team is a maximum of four, however most teams won’t have that many participants. The top 15 golfers inside the Official World Golf Ranking automatically make the games with each country getting no more than four golfers. If the golfers aren’t inside the top 15 in the OWGR, the most golfers a country can have is two.

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Golf is making it’s comeback in the Olympics for the first time since 1904. The suggested format is a 72-hole stroke play tournament and a three-hole playoff in the events of any tie between the first three teams.

Outside of the proposed format and the fact that golf is actually returning to the Olympics, there isn’t much known about who the favorites are to take the gold medal. With that being said, let’s try projecting the field for golf at the 2016 Summer Olympics and take a look at a few countries who look promising on the men and women’s side.

Early Favorites for Golf at the 2016 Summer Olympics

United States

The United States will definitely be one of the better countries in the Summer Olympics. Currently, they have seven golfers inside the top 15 of the OWGR, but will only be able to play four of these golfers.

This a good and bad situation to be in for the U.S. On one hand, they have seven golfers inside the top 15 in the OWGR, but they can only go with the first four golfers. At this point in the year, those four would be Jordan Spieth, Bubba Watson, Rickie Fowler, and Dustin Johnson.

The current golfers USA can choose from for the Olympics are: Jordan Spieth (1), Bubba Watson (4), Rickie Fowler (7), Dustin Johnson (8), Jim Furyk (9), Patrick Reed (10), Zach Johnson (13).

Australia

Australia currently has two golfers that would make the team for the Summer Olympics. Jason Day (2) and Adam Scott (12) would both qualify to represent their country in Rio de Janeiro.

Day is coming off the best season of his career as he heads into 2016, while Scott is trying to bounce back from a rough 2015. Regardless, these guys have two majors between them and 39 professional wins between them.

Ireland

Rory McIlroy had the decision to play for Great Britain or Ireland in the 2016 Summer Olympics, but has chosen to go with Ireland. McIlroy told the Guardian:

"“I have been thinking about the decision a lot and remembered all the times I represented Ireland as an amateur. I have played for Ireland my whole life and there’s no reason to change that now. It’s just a continuation of what I’ve done.”"

Shane Lowry is next up on the list for Ireland and will play alongside McIlroy if he hangs on to his current spot in the Official World Golf Ranking. Graeme McDowell sits 36 spots behind Lowry in the OWGR and can represent Ireland if he moves in front of Lowry.

Great Britain

Justin Rose and Danny Willett are the current representatives for Great Britain at the Summer Olympics. Paul Casey is next up on the list if he can move ahead of Willett in the OWGR.