NBC on Yahoo SportsWith less than 100 days to go, a look at the Olympic field
Shackelford expects players to like Rio course
We're less than 100 days away from golf's return to the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. With a little more than three months to go, we offer this look at the how the men's Olympic field would shape up if qualifying were to end today.
As a reminder, the 60-man field is not a collection of the 60 best players in the world. Instead, competing countries can send up to two representatives. As many as four players could represent a given country if they are all ranked inside the Official World Golf Ranking's top 15. The United States is currently the only country with more than two representatives, maxing out its full alottment.
The qualifying deadline is set for July 11. As of now, 34 countries will be respresented in men's golf, with players ranging from world No. 1 Jason Day to No. 369 Gavin Kyle Green.
Australia
Projected in: No. 1 Jason Day, No. 35 Marc Leishman
Sitting out: No. 7 Adam Scott
Day is a shoo-in and Leishman now finds himself in the field thanks to Scott, who has opted to withdraw himself from Olympic consideration.
United States
Projected in: No. 2 Jordan Spieth, No. 4 Bubba Watson, No. 5 Rickie Fowler, No. 8 Dustin Johnson
Odd man out: No. 12 Patrick Reed
Only the Americans are currently projected to get the maximum four representatives in the field. Reed is the closest to cracking the U.S. team, but 12 more Americans are currently inside the top 30 and could make a push with a big summer.
Ireland
Projected in: No. 3 Rory McIlroy, No. 33 Shane Lowry
Odd man out: No. 72 Graeme McDowell
McIlroy made headlines last year when he opted to represent Ireland and not Great Britain as part of Northern Ireland. As for McDowell, he’s more concerned with the Ryder Cup than Rio.
Sweden
Projected in: No. 6 Henrik Stenson, No. 48 David Lingmerth
Odd man out: No. 82 Kristoffer Broberg
Lingmerth is enjoying the fruits of his 2015 Memorial win, leaving Broberg, last year’s BMW Masters champ, with some work to do.
Great Britain
Projected in: No. 9 Danny Willett, No. 10 Justin Rose
Odd man out: No. 23 Paul Casey
If Casey can crack the OWGR’s top 15 by the deadline, he can earn GBR a third entry. The same goes for No. 30 Russell Knox, No. 32 Andy Sullivan, No. 36 Lee Westwood and No. 41 Matthew Fitzpatrick.
South Africa
Projected in: No. 11 Branden Grace, No. 59 Jaco Van Zyl
Sitting out: No. 13 Louis Oosthuizen, No. 20 Charl Schwartzel
Van Zyl suddenly finds himself in the Olympic mix after two of his fellow countrymen said they wouldn’t accept a bid.
Japan
Projected in: No. 14 Hideki Matsuyama, No. 79 Yuta Ikeda
Odd man out: No. 81 Shingo Katayama
American fans know Matusyama but are less familiar with Ikeda, a 14-time Japan Golf Tour winner who passed Katayama with a victory this past weekend at the Panasonic Open.
Spain
Projected in: No. 15 Sergio Garcia, No. 29 Rafa Cabrera Bello
Potential alternate Miguel Angel Jimenez has said he won’t play. Should Garcia or Cabrera Bello opt not to, No. 136 Alejandro Canizares is next in line.
South Korea
Projected in: No. 31 Ben An, No. 60 K.T. Kim
Odd man out: No. 75 Soomin Lee
Lee vaulted from 128th to 75th thanks to his first European Tour victory this past weekend at the Shenzhen International in China.
Denmark
Projected in: No. 38 Soren Kjeldsen, No. 68 Thorbjorn Olesen
Odd man out: No. 134 Lucas Bjerregaard
Kjeldsen won the Irish Open last year and finished T-7 at the Masters earlier this month. Olesen has been a winner on the European Tour in three of the last four years.
Argentina
Projected in: No. 39 Emiliano Grillo, No. 65 Fabian Gomez
Grillo won the Frys.com Open last fall and Gomez the FedEx St. Jude last season. Next in line for Argentina? Two-time major champion Angel Cabrera at No. 305.
Thailand
Projected in: No. 40 Kiradech Aphibarnrat, No. 45 Thongchai Jaidee
Odd man out: Prayad Marksaeng
Aphibarnrat won twice on the European Tour last year. Jaidee has 16 career wins spread across the European and Asian tours and represented Thailand at the Presidents Cup last fall.
New Zealand
Projected in: No. 42 Danny Lee, No. 169 Ryan Fox
Odd man out: No. 271 Josh Geary
Lee has a victory, a runner-up, a third and six more top-10s in the last two PGA Tour seasons. Fox is a three-time winner on the Challenge and Australasia tours.
Austria
Projected in: No. 43 Bernd Wiesberger
The first country on the list with only one representative, Wiesberger won the French Open last summer and was in the weekend mix at the PGA Championship at Valhalla in 2014.
France
Projected in: No. 52 Victor Dubuisson, No. 100 Alexander Levy
Odd man out: No. 147 Gregory Bourdy
Dubuisson had a breakout year in 2014, finishing runner-up at the WGC-Match Play and making the Ryder Cup. After a difficult 2015, he re-emerged in November, winning his second Turkish Airlines Open. Levy won twice on the European Tour in 2014.
India
Projected in: No. 53 Anirban Lahiri, No. 160 S.S.P. Chawrasia
Lahiri won twice on the European Tour last year, won the Long Drive Contest at the PGA Championship and represented India at the Presidents Cup. Chawrasia won his third Euro title this March at the Hero Indian Open, beating the defending champ Lahiri in a playoff.
Germany
Projected in: No. 55 Martin Kaymer, No. 145 Alex Cejka
Odd man out: No. 190 Marcel Siem
Two-time major winner and former world No. 1 Kaymer has swooned since his triumph at Pinehurst. At 44, Cejka finally won his first PGA Tour title last year at the Puerto Rico Open.
Netherlands
Projected in: No. 61 Joost Luiten
A four-time European Tour champ, Luiten is currently the Netherlands’ lone representative.
Belgium
Projected in: No. 62 Thomas Pieters, No. 266 Nicolas Colsaerts
Pieters won twice on the European Tour late last summer and is fighting for a spot in this fall’s Ryder Cup. Colsearts, a former Ryder Cupper, hasn’t won since 2012.
Italy
Projected in: No. 86 Francesco Molinari
A two-time member of European Ryder Cup team, Molinari last won the 2012 Spanish Open. He finished tied for third last year at the Memorial, two shots out of a playoff.
Portugal
Projected in: No. 95 Ricardo Gouveia
The former UCF Knight won twice on the Challenge Tour last year.
Philippines
Projected in: No. 113 Miguel Tabuena, No. 254 Angelo Que
Tabuena won his national open last year on the Asian Tour and has won eight more times in his home country. Que is a three-time Asian Tour winner who recorded two runner-ups on the Japanese Tour last year and a T-4 at this year’s Indian Open.
Canada
Projected in: No. 119 Graham DeLaet, No. 142 David Hearn
Odd man out: No. 185 Adam Hadwin
Hearn made a run at his own national open last year while DeLaet has become noteworthy for a number of close calls and a bushy beard. Hadwin was the Web.com Tour’s money leader in 2014.
China
Projected in: No. 174 WC Liang, No. 196 Wu Ashun
Odd man out: No. 237 Haotong Li
Liang won on the Japanese Tour last year and finished in the top 10 at the PGA Championship in 2010 at Whistling Straits, shooting a then-course record 8-under 64 in the third round. Ashun won last year’s Volvo China Open. Li won four times in China in 2014 and was T-7 at last year’s WGC-HSBC Champions.
Paraguay
Projected in: No. 182 Fabrizio Zanotti
Zanotti won the BMW International in 2014 and had four top-10 finishes on the European Tour, including a runner-up to Matthew Fitzpatrick at the British Masters.
Finland
Projected in: No. 189 Mikko Ilonen, No. 265 Roope Kakko
Odd man out: No. 334 Mikko Korhonen
Ilonen rode a hot streak in the summer of 2014, sandwiching a tie for seventh at the PGA Championship with two European Tour wins. Kakko won the months-delayed Madeira Islands Open last August.
Zimbabwe
Projected in: No. 211 Brendon de Jonge
De Jonge has 27 career top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour including two runner-ups, the most recent coming in the form of a playoff loss at the 2014 McGladrey.
Columbia
Projected in: No. 224 Camilo Villegas
Spider-Man is a four-time PGA Tour winner who last won the 2014 Wyndham.
Malaysia
Projected in: No. 264 Danny Chia, No. 369 Gavin Kyle Green
The 43-year-old Chia topped the board at last year’s Taiwan Masters. Green is the lowest-ranked player currently in the field.
Mexico
Projected in: No. 283 Rodolfo Cazaubon, No. 332 Carlos Ortiz
Cazaubon led PGA Tour Latinoamerica’s Order of Merit last year, advancing to the Web.com Tour. Ortiz was the 2014 Web.com Tour Player of the Year.
Venezuela
Projected in: No. 286 Jhonattan Vegas
Vegas’ lone Tour victory came at the former Bob Hope in 2011. He’s playing this season on Tour via past champion status.
Chinese Taipei (Taiwan)
Projected in: No. 295 C.T. Pan, No. 308 Wen-Tang Lin
Pan picked up two PGA Tour Canada titles in 2015. Lin once defeated Rory McIlroy and Francesco Molinari in a playoff at the 2008 Hong Kong Open.
Brazil
Projected in: No. 335 Adilson da Silva
The 44-year-old is a 12-time winner on the South African Sunshine Tour and made the cut at the 2013 Open Championship.
Singapore
Projected in: No. 363 MardaN Mamat
Mamat in 1997 became the first player from Singapore to ever play the Open. The five-time Asian Tour champ last won the 2015 Bangladesh Open.
