Bryson DeChambeau says he is “frustrated and disappointed” about missing this summer’s Olympic Games, even though the field for the tournament in Paris was already set on Tuesday.
The US Open was the final qualifying event for the men’s competition, but despite winning on Sunday and finishing second in April’s Masters and seventh in last month’s US PGA, DeChambeau is not one of the 60 golfers who are named for the 72-hole individual competition. event at Le Golf National.
The International Golf Federation, which oversees the sport’s participation in the Games, determines spots based on world rankings, with a maximum of four players allowed per country as long as they are in the top 15.
DeChambeau sits 10th in the rankings, with Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Wyndham Clark and Collin Morikawa representing the Stars and Stripes on the course where the country was badly defeated in the 2018 Ryder Cup.
Aside from Phil Mickelson in 2021, DeChambeau will be the first major winner not to qualify for that year’s Olympics, as the competition was rescheduled in 2016 after a 112-year absence. The 30-year-old was always at it as LIV Golf was denied access to world ranking points.
Six members of the Saudi-funded circuit will enter the first round on August 1, including Jon Rahm, but DeChambeau, who was forced to withdraw from the last Olympics at the eleventh hour after contracting Covid, will have to wait until 2028. , when it will be performed at the Riviera Country Club in LA, for the next occasion.
“Hopefully one day this game of golf will be discovered and come back together and I’ll be able to play,” DeChambeau told The Pat McAfee Show. “I play great golf…. but ultimately yes, am I frustrated and disappointed? Sure, you could absolutely say that. But I made the choices I made and there are consequences and I respect that.”
Matt Fitzpatrick and Tommy Fleetwood represent Team GB, along with Shane Lowry and Rory McIlroy, who finished second to DeChambeau at Pinehurst and flew the flag for Ireland. The tournament will be of the highest level yet, with eight players from the top ten in the world – also missing Patrick Cantlay – will take part.
The women’s field, which will be held the following week on the same course with the same format, will be finalized after this week’s Women’s PGA Championship, the third major of the season, in Sahalee.
Charley Hull has already been assured of her place in Team GB, with Georgia Hall set to join her great friend in their bid to dethrone world number 1 Nelly Korda – who won in Tokyo three years ago – although Jodi Ewart Shadoff and Gemma Dryburgh could oust Hall with a win in Seattle.
After good form, world number 8 Hull will fancy their chances with Sahalee but have suffered an early setback with her clubs lost in transit.
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