Le Golf National in Paris will host from this Thursday the fifth participation of golf in the history of the Olympic Games. And yes, on this occasion, we could say that the fifth time is the charm. We are going to have the best tournament ever in the Games. The top seven in the world are here, as well as ten of the top 15, a fact that is much more valuable if we think that those missing from this top 15 simply cannot be here, they are Americans and as you know participation in the Games is limited to a maximum of four per country within the top 15 worldwide.
In other words, all who are, are all who are here. Someone might argue that they miss some golfer from LIV, but if they are not here it is because they did not want to or could not, since there are others who have played tournaments valid for the world ranking with the aim of being in Paris and they have done very well, as is the case with David Puig.
We say it is the best golf tournament in history and we provide the data. In 1900 in Paris and in 1904 in St. Louis there is no objective way to measure it, there was no world ranking or anything like that, but in the first edition only 12 golfers played and in the second there were only players from the United States and Canada. Therefore, not all the best were there. However, the first Olympic gold in history, the American Charles Sands, was a finalist in the US Amateur in 1985, the first edition, the same as George Lyon, Canadian Olympic champion in 1904 and finalist in the US Amateur in 1906. Precisely, Lyon defeated in the final Chandler Egan, twice champion of the US Amateur in 1904 and 1905.
The 1900 edition was played over 36 holes in stroke play format among the aforementioned twelve golfers, while in 1904 75 players participated, two qualifying rounds of 18 holes were held and the top 32 faced each other in match play, a format that many fans defend for the current Olympic Games.
The other two editions were already in 2016 and 2021, in Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo. They tried to have golf in 1908, but it was cancelled because the English and Scots could not agree on the format and they also wanted to include it in 1920 in Antwerp, but they gave up due to the lack of participants.
In Rio 2016 the top four in the world were missing. The highest ranked was Henrik Stenson, fifth in the ranking, and only four top 10 in the world and seven top 15 played. Meanwhile, in 2021 it was almost worse. The top two in the world were missing, Jon Rahm due to covid and Dustin Johnson because he was not interested. The highest ranked was Collin Morikawa, Number 3 in the world, there were three top 10 in the world and only six top 15.
It gives the impression, therefore, that the fifth time is the charm and the golfers seem to be convinced that the Olympic medal is almost like a Major. It is not yet said very loudly, but it gives the impression that it is on its way to becoming the fifth Major. This one for sure.
