Could Olympics Golf Expand Into Mixed Doubles or Team Formats in 2028?

With golf being a part of the Summer Olympics for the third time for the 2024 Paris games, there’s talk of expanding the competition for the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.

Antony Scanlon, the executive director of the International Golf Federation, said recently:

“At the beginning of next year, [the International Olympic Committee] should make the decision as to what events will be in the program for L.A. And we’re hoping that the fact that there’s no additional athletes and no additional resources required, that the mixed event would be approved by them, especially given the support of the organizing committee.”

First look at Le Golf National for Paris Olympics…#nbcolympics pic.twitter.com/019MCoodk6

— John Wood (@Johnwould) July 30, 2024

Under the current format, a men’s 72-hole event takes place on the first weekend of the games, and a women’s 72-hole tournament occurs on the following weekend. It looks like organizers are looking to fill that space in between with another event.

Australian Min Woo Lee said:

“It will be a pretty long week for us if we had to do four days of individuals and I don’t know how many days of mixed, two days of mixed. That’s a lot of golf for us. [But] I would be very excited if there was a team event and that would be very cool. That would make golf grow, which is awesome, and we want to do that.”

Let The Games begin.@Olympics x 🇺🇸⛳️ pic.twitter.com/YQ70v6rxZa

— USA GOLF (@USAGolf) July 31, 2024

There’s currently momentum for both mixed and team play. LIV Golf introduced a team format in 2022 that’s a part of each of their events. In mixed play, the PGA Tour and LPGA are teaming up for the first Grant Thornton Invitational this December, which will be the first joint event between the tours since 1999. 

Many golfers said this week that a team aspect would add to the nationalistic flair of the Olympics. 

“If that came to fruition where there was a mixed-team event, another team event that was not mixed and Shane [Lowry] and I could play in it if we qualify, yeah, I’d love that. I think that would be a great format to bring to this competition,” Rory McIlroy said from Paris this week.

Adding an event or two would likely have to require the tours to take a two-week break for the Olympics. Currently, the PGA Tour has just one week off from last week’s 3M Open to next week’s Wyndham Championship.

Cover Image via Sky Sports