It came down to the final weekend of the Olympic qualification window, but now we know that Team Canada will be represented in the men’s Olympic golf tournament at Paris 2024 by Nick Taylor and Corey Conners.
At the end of the U.S Open on Sunday, Taylor and Conners were the top two Canadians in the Olympic Golf Ranking (based on the Official World Golf Ranking), earning them their tickets to Paris.
Taylor, 36, had leapt into an Olympic qualifying position following his historic victory at the 2023 RBC Canadian Open where he became the first Canadian in 69 years to win Canada’s National Men’s Open Championship. He memorably defeated Tommy Fleetwood with a 72-foot putt on the fourth playoff hole to become the only Canadian male golfer to win the Canadian Junior (2006), Canadian Amateur (2007), and Canadian Open (2023) Championships.
Taylor is a graduate of Golf Canada’s National Team Program and has represented Canada at the World Amateur Team Championship (2008) and World Cup (2018). He solidified his Olympic qualifying position with his fourth career PGA Tour victory, winning the Phoenix Open this past February. Taylor is currently 35th in the world ranking.
“The opportunity to represent my country at the Olympics has been a huge goal of mine for many years,” said Taylor. “To see the news become official today is quite humbling and surreal. I’m excited to get to Paris to compete, proudly wear the maple leaf, and soak in what I know will be an incredible experience.”
Conners posted Canada’s best Olympic result in men’s golf since it returned to the program at Rio 2016. He finished 13th at Tokyo 2020, two shots out of a seven-man playoff for the bronze medal.
A tie for ninth at the U.S. Open helped the 32-year-old secure a spot at his second Olympic Games. That was Conners’ second top-10 finish of the season, following a solo sixth-place performance at the 2024 RBC Canadian Open earlier this month. He needed to finish 11th or better at the U.S. Open to jump past Adam Hadwin and claim Canada’s second Olympic ticket. Conners is a two-time PGA Tour winner (2019 and 2023 Valero Texas Open) who is now ranked 37th in the world after moving up nine positions this week.
Also a graduate of Golf Canada’s National Team Program and a past member of the Presidents Cup International Team (2022), Conners has represented Canada on numerous occasions, including the World Amateur Team Championship in 2012 and 2014.
“It is going to be a huge honour to represent Canada alongside all the other athletes,” said Conners. “It was a big goal of mine to make the team again this year and I can’t wait to get to Paris.”
The men’s and women’s golf tournaments at Paris 2024 will each feature a field of 60 athletes. A country can enter up to four athletes per tournament, provided all four are in the top 15 of the Olympic Golf Ranking. Otherwise, there is a maximum of two athletes per country of each gender.
The entrants in the women’s Olympic tournament will be determined with the rankings on June 24, immediately following the Women’s PGA Championship, the third of the five women’s majors on the calendar. Brooke Henderson and Alena Sharp were holding onto the Canadian Olympic spots as of the June 10 rankings.
The men’s golf tournament will take place August 1-4 at Le Golf National, before the women’s tournament takes place August 7-10.
More than a century ago, George Lyon won Canada’s only Olympic golf medal when he won gold in the match play tournament at St. Louis 1904.
Team Canada Men’s Golf Athletes at Paris 2024
Corey Conners (Listowel, Ont.)
Nick Taylor (Abbotsford, B.C.)
