2028 LA Olympics Expected to Add Team Golf Event

AP News Discusses Detailed Rules with IOC and Organizing Committee
Announcement Scheduled for April 11 Masters Tournament
Three Days Stroke Play, Final Day Team Event Format

A team event is expected to be added to the golf competition at the 2028 Los Angeles (LA) Summer Olympics.

Nelly Korda is biting her gold medal on the podium at the Tokyo Olympics.

On the 19th (local time), the Associated Press (AP) cited an anonymous source involved in the addition of Olympic events. The outlet reported, "The addition of a golf team event at the LA Olympics has reached a confirmed stage. It is expected to be announced at the Masters, a major golf tournament starting as early as April 11." The detailed format of the team event has not yet been finalized. Various formats are reportedly being discussed. The mixed format used in last year's Grant Thornton Invitational, a combined event of the PGA Tour and the LPGA Tour, is a good example.

Currently, Olympic golf competitions are divided into men's and women's divisions, each with 60 players competing over four days in a 72-hole single stroke play format to determine the medalists. If a team event is added, separate matches will need to be held. However, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) generally does not favor awarding two medals (individual and team) in a single sport. Additionally, the increase in the number of competition days could prevent players who participate in professional golf tours from competing due to scheduling conflicts.

Therefore, the IOC is expected to adopt a method where single stroke play is held over three days, followed by a team event using foursomes or four-ball formats on the final day, with the results combined. The golf competition at the LA Olympics will take place at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California, a key venue for the PGA Tour's Genesis Invitational. Golf was reinstated as an official Olympic sport at the 2016 Rio Olympics after more than a century.