Four of the top 10 golfers in the world will not be in the men’s tournament at the Olympic Games in Japan, only one by choice.
In tune with the world rankings, the list of 60 golfers was released on Tuesday, with a half dozen casualties, highlighting the South African Louis Oosthuizen, the British Tyrrell Hatton and the Spanish Sergio García.
Dustin Johnson, the number two in the world, had already reported that he would not participate in the tournament between July 29 and August 1 due to a tight schedule.
Still, golf has drawn a remarkable group of players from Rio de Janeiro 2016, when the sport returned to the Olympic program and several of the best golfers chose not to participate.
Five years ago, four of the best golfers in the world – who had combined to win six of the last golf clubs – dropped out in fear of the Zika virus and safety.
The Tokyo Games will have severe travel and accommodation restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Still four of the best five golfers in the world will participate, including five of the last champions of the big events. That group includes Hideki Matsuyama, the first Japanese to win the Masters.
The women’s list will be released next week.
Spaniard Jon Rahm, who returned to the top of the rankings with his triumph at the US Open, topped the list. It is followed by four Americans: Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Xander Schauffele and Bryson DeChambeau.
Each country can have up to four players if they are in the top 15. Otherwise they are limited to two.
The list does not include the Rio medalists.
Justin Rose, who won gold in 2016, fell to 44th in the rankings and needed another British player to drop.
The Swedish silver medalist Henrik Stenson has a bad time, ranking 155 in the ranking. Matt Kuchar, who won the bronze, is the 31st American.
Mexico will have two representatives: Abraham Ancer and Carlos Ortiz. Chile will do it with Joaquin Niemann and Guillermo Pereira. The rest of the Latin American contingent has the Argentine Emiliano Grillo, the Venezuelan Jhonattan Vegas, the Colombian Sebastián Muñoz, the Paraguayan Fabrizio Zanotti and the Puerto Rican Rafael Campos.
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