# Olympic Golf, Which had Previously Ignored Top Players, was Crowded at the Paris Games

Many of the top male golfers declined to compete in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

The apparent reason was concerns about the Zika virus that was spreading in Brazil at the time, but the intention was to focus more on major tournaments with big prize money and prestige.

At the time, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth (both from the US), Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland), and Jason Day (Australia), who were at the top of the world rankings, did not compete in the Rio Olympics.

Brooks Koepka (USA) and Adam Scott (Australia) also declined to compete.

Five years later, 11 players who qualified for the Tokyo Olympics also declined to compete. **[안전한 카지노사이트](https://bsc.news/post/2024-best-casinosite-evolution-major-baccaratsite-top15)**

Johnson, Sergio Garcia (Spain), Matt Fitzpatrick (England), Louis Oosthuizen (South Africa), Francesco Molinari (Italy), and Camilo Villegas (Colombia) are some of the famous players who have declined to compete in the Tokyo Olympics.

With so many famous top players declining to compete, there were even calls to exclude golf from the Olympics.

However, the atmosphere has completely changed ahead of the Paris Olympics this year.

Only two athletes who qualified for the Paris Olympics have decided not to compete.

Bernd Wiesberger (Austria) and Cristobal Del Sola (Chile) have announced that they will not compete in the Paris Olympics.

Wiesberger, who also declined to compete in the Tokyo Olympics three years ago, has also returned his Paris Olympics ticket without giving a clear reason.

Sola, who plays on the [Korn Ferry Tour](https://www.nn.ru/user.php?user_id=1446647&page=blog&blog_id=3609497) of the US PGA, said he would rather focus on obtaining a PGA Tour card next year and did not accept the opportunity to compete in the Olympics.

Considering that Wiesberger is ranked 211th in the world and Sola is ranked 199th, this will not affect the popularity of the Paris Olympics at all.

It is completely different from the Rio Olympics eight years ago when there was talk of excluding the Olympics.

In short, the attitudes of top male players who were indifferent to the Olympics have changed.

Even Bryson DeChambeau (USA), who won the US Open but was ranked 6th in the world among American players and could not compete in the Paris Olympics, expressed his regret.

This change is due to the special treatment given to players who won gold medals in the last two Olympics.

Justin Rose (USA), who won the Rio Olympics, is more famous as an Olympic gold medalist than as a US Open champion, and Xander Schauffele (USA), who won the Tokyo Olympics, has enjoyed the honor of being an Olympic gold medalist for the past three years.

It also helped to give Olympic gold medalists practical benefits, such as eligibility for major and special tournaments.

Meanwhile, eight players in the world's top 20 will not be participating in the men's golf at the [Paris Olympics](https://zb3.org/outlookindia/womens-golfer-kim-hyo-joo-i-was-so-nervous-in-tokyo).

They are all American players.

This is because of the rule that no more than four players of the same nationality can participate.