It will be the fifth time in Olympic history that golf will return to the 2024 Olympic Games, which run from Friday July 26 to Sunday August 11. Golf was first introduced in 1900, but after the 1904 St. Louis Olympics, the sport went on hiatus for a century. In 2016, golf triumphed on the world’s biggest stage, and this sport entered the Olympics for the third time.
There are 60 men’s golfers in the Olympic field, and the United States is the only country with four: Scotty Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Wyndham Clark and Collin Morikawa. Each country receives a maximum of two delegates, with one exception. A country with more than two golfers ranked in the top 15 of the Official World Golf Ranking is eligible to send a maximum of four golfers. The United States was the only country to qualify for the 2024 Olympics.
Four US representatives will compete at Le Golf National, home of the 2018 Ryder Cup. The Olympic Golf Tournament is organized like any PGA Tour event and is a 72-hole singles stroke play tournament played over four days. Schauffele will look to defend her title after taking the US gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Here’s a look back at the collegiate careers of four US men’s golfers.
*All ranks as of June 17, 2024
Scotty Scheffler, Texas
The 28-year-old phenom has taken the golf world by storm in recent years, winning two of the last three Masters and 11 on the PGA Tour. The former Longhorn has been OWGR’s number one since May 2023, and he’s definitely the favorite to take gold at the Paris Games.
But before dominating the PGA Tour, Scheffler played in Austin from 2014-2018. The Dallas, Texas, native was a team-best 21-under pitcher as a freshman and won two titles at Interwestern College and the 2015 Big 12 Championship.
Scheffler’s two wins as a freshman would be his most in a season at Texas. Scheffler went through a sophomore slump, finishing ninth at the 2016 Big 12 Championships, but bounced back in his junior season. During the 2016-2017 season, Scheffler had six top-three finishes, including a win at the East Lake Cup. His junior season included his best finish at the NCAA tournament, with a third-place finish at the championships.
The world number one would go on to go winless again in his senior season, but he showed golf fans his remarkable consistency as he went 22 under par in his 34 rounds.
Xander Schauffele, San Diego State
The Olympic golf gold medalist has been a mainstay on the PGA Tour since becoming his first PGA Tour rookie in 2016. He most recently won his first major title, winning the 2024 PGA Championship in impressive fashion, and is currently tied for third on the OWGR.
Schauffele began her collegiate golf career at Long Beach State before transferring to San Diego State for her sophomore season. During his sophomore campaign, Schauffele averaged 72.13 points, which ranked second on the Aztecs and sixth on the Mountain West.
The 2016-2017 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year made a jump in his young season, averaging 71.61 strokes per round and earning his first win at the Lamkin Grips San Diego Classic. He finished the 2013-2014 season with five top-five finishes and a team-leading 16 laps.
In his final season with the Aztecs, Schauffele made another leap, posting an average of 70.49 and eight top-five appearances. He captured his second collegiate victory at the Barona Collegiate Cup, shooting a 17-under 199 in the 54-hole event. He finished his collegiate career with third-team All-American honors.
Windham Clark, Oregon
Clark is one of golf’s new stars after winning the 2023 Wells Fargo Championship and then the 2023 US Open. He entered 2022 ranked 163rd in the OWGR and is fifth at the halfway point of the 2024 season.
The 30-year-old spent four years at Oklahoma State before transferring to Oregon for his redshirt senior season. As a redshirt freshman, Clark was named Big 12 Player of the Year and had seven consecutive top six finishes. Clark suffered a slight slump in his sophomore season, but won the NCAA title in his second straight year.
The Oregon State graduate has made jumps as a youngster, finishing in the top five seven times and finishing second four times. However, he failed to qualify for the NCAA Tournament in the 2015-2016 season. The following summer, Clark took his talents to Eugene, where he shined in his final college season. Clark was ranked No. 1 in Golfstat (college golf rankings) and was a finalist for the 2017 Ben Hogan Award.
He closed out his collegiate career by winning the Pac-12 Championship and finishing second at the NCAA Baton Rouge Invitational.
Colleen Morikawa, California
The youngest golfer on the list, Morikawa, 27, is a two-time champion and is ranked seventh on the OWGR. The 2020 PGA Championship winner has won six times on the PGA Tour and is considered one of the best hitters in the game today.
Of the four great golfers on this list, Morikawa may have the most impressive college resume. He earned three first-team All-American honors for the Golden Bears, the first Cal golfer to hold Cal’s all-time scoring average.
The winner of the 2021 Open Championship has made two appearances at the NCAA Championships (2016 and 2019), finishing in the top 10 twice. In his junior season, Morikawa set the all-time NCAA single-season stroke average of 68.68. During his career at Cal, he won five events, had 22 top-five finishes and 35 top-ten finishes. He always seemed to be in contention, and that consistency carried over to the PGA Tour.
Morikawa is making her second Olympic appearance with Schauffele and will be looking to find her way onto the podium after finishing fourth at the Tokyo Games.
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