Olympic Winners To Earn 2017 Major Exemptions
When golf returns to the Olympics this summer in Brazil for the first time in 100 years, there will now be much more on the line than just a gold medal.
On Monday in a joint press conference, the USGA, PGA of America, R&A, and Augusta National Golf Club announced that the men's gold medal winner at the 2016 Olympics will earn an invite to all four majors in 2017. In addition, the R&A, USGA, PGA and LPGA announced the winner of the women’s gold medal will be given an ivite too all five women’s majors next year as well.
“We believe our game's visibility will be dramatically elevated by the global platform that only the Olympics offer,” said Augusta National chairman Billy Payne. “New audiences from all over the world, some for the very first time ever, will be exposed to our great sport and come to know and appreciate the amazing athletes and heroes in golf."
For an event that seemed to not garner a lot of interest from some of the top golfers in the world, the new agreement should add a little excitement and appeal. Many golfers have not been shy when saying that the Olympics take a back seat to the four majors and that many would rather win one of those more majors over a gold medal. Now, that gold medal could be exactly the ticket they need to gain admission into the Masters, U.S. Open, PGA Championship, and Open Championship.
In addition to it sweetening the pot for some of the top golfers in the world, it will now give some golfers who never even dreamed of competing in golf's four majors a chance at glory. While the top golfers in the Official World Golf Rankings battle it out to earn one of their country's spots in the olympics. Golfers from smaller countries who are nowhere near the top 50 or even 100 in the OWGR will fill out the rest of the field.
In addition to welcoming the gold medalist to the field, the USGA announced that the silver and bronze medalists will recieve exemptions through the first stage of U.S. Open qualifying if they are not already exempt. The PGA Tour is also considering extending an invite to the 2017 PLAYERS Championship to the gold medal winner and will make a final decision when its policy board meets in a few weeks.
On the men's side, the 2017 U.S. Open will be held at Erin Hills in Erin, Wisconsin, the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale in England and the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, North Carolina. On the women's side the 2017 U.S. Open will be held at Trump National in New Jersey, the KPMG Women's PGA Championship at Olympia Fields in Chicago, the Evian Championship in France, the Women's British Open at Kingsbarns, and the ANA Inspiration at Mission Hills in California.
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