The Dutch Olympic Committee has ruled out two male players and one female player from the golf competition in Paris. They believe their world ranking is too low for them to have real chances of competing in a field of 60 players and obtaining at least an Olympic diploma (finishing in the top eight). With this criterion, they have decided that it is not worth participating in Le Golf National next August.
The resolution means that Joost Luiten and Darius Van Driel will not go to Paris. It is not the first time this has happened, it is the second consecutive Games that the Dutch authorities prevent golfers from attending the tournament for not being ranked among the top 100 in the world or at least close to that psychological barrier.
Joost Luiten is currently number 177 in the world and has six victories on the DP World Tour, although the last one dates from 2018. For his part, Darius Van Driel is 221 and won the Magical Kenya Open just a few months ago.
In the women’s section, however, Anne Van Dame, 108 in the women’s world ranking, will go to Paris. A proven player with participations in the Solheim does meet the criterion. Her compatriot Dewi Weber, 302 in the world and who had also qualified, will watch the Olympics on television.
The Dutch Golf Federation expressed this Tuesday in a statement that on June 14 they presented a report explaining the differences between golf and other sports and how the world number 100 can perform well in any tournament. Not going too far, in the last Games, Rory Sabatini won the silver being the 161 in the world. The report has not been taken into account.
“According to them, it has not been demonstrated that there is a reasonable chance that our players will qualify among the top eight in the Olympic Games,” the federation said in the statement.
The International Golf Federation has also wanted to support and wrote a letter to the Olympic Committee explaining the peculiarities of golf: “It is common for lower-ranked players to have a significant impact on major tournaments, challenging their current ranking,” says the letter. “There are numerous examples of lower-ranked players in the OWGR performing well in major events.”
This year alone, seven players ranked outside the top hundred in the world have won PGA Tour events. Among them is, for example, then amateur Nick Dunlap, who won The American Express tournament which included among others the World Number One, Scottie Scheffler.
Nothing has managed to convince the structured committee and none of the three will be able to play in Paris. Their places will be replaced by Joel Girrbach, from Switzerland (world no. 366), and Tapio Pulkkanen, from Finland (world no. 378).
