If it were up to two-time major champion Jon Rahm, the process for selecting golfers to participate in the Olympics would be drastically different.
In the days leading up to the first round of the men's tournament at the Paris Olympics, the Spanish professional golfer proposed a different format. Rahm suggested that each country be allowed to select its own golfers for the Summer Games.
Currently, golfers are chosen based on their position in the world golf rankings. “There have to be some guidelines,” Rahm told reporters. “But, for example, the U.S. basketball team is free to choose whoever they want.”
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Legion XIII GC captain Jon Rahm hits from the sixth tee during the final round of LIV Golf Miami at Trump National Doral, Sunday, April 7, 2024, in Doral, Fla. (Chris Trotman/LIV Golf via AP)
The Olympic qualification process came into focus earlier this year when some players who competed on the LIV golf circuit were not considered for the Summer Games. LIV tournaments are not recognised by world rankings.
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Seven LIV players, including Rahm, ultimately traveled to France for this year's Olympics, but others, such as Bryson DeChambeau, who won the US Open in June, and fellow American Brooks Koepka, were not selected.
“I think you have to let each country choose who they want to face,” Rahm added.
Captain Jon Rahm of Legion XIII warms up on the practice area during day one of the LIV Golf Invitational – Mayakoba at El Camaleon at Mayakoba on February 2, 2024 in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. (Manuel Velasquez/Getty Images)
Golf was added to Olympic competition ahead of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
More than a century passed without golfers participating in the Games before they were reinstated in the Summer Games more than eight years ago.
Jon Rahm of Spain tees off on the 14th hole during day four of the DP World Tour Championship at the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates on November 19, 2023 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)
Olympic golf is currently played in the traditional 72-hole format, but Rahm wouldn't mind adding “some team aspect” to it either.
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“It would be really nice to share the stage with another player,” Rahm said, “to do something different, maybe something we do every day.”
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