A look inside the Australian men’s and women’s teams for the Olympics in Paris, where the two sides will chase the country’s first medal in the golf event. 

Australia has had a connection to golf at the Olympics deeper than most countries since the sport was reintroduced at the 2016 edition in Rio de Janeiro. Firstly, when popular course architect Gil Hanse secured the tender to design the Olympic course in Rio, which sat on a sandy site near the ocean at Barra da Tijuca, less than 30 kilometres from Rio’s Copacabana Beach, the American guru modelled his layout on some of the iconic courses of the Melbourne Sandbelt. It was no surprise, then, when Corowa product and European Tour veteran, Marcus Fraser, shot an opening 63 to post the Olympic golf tournament’s record low score.

Fraser and Scott Hend made up the Australian men’s team in 2016 when world No.1 Jason Day chose to skip the Games over concerns about the Zika virus in Brazil (as did many other stars) while Adam Scott opted out of competing in the Olympics for scheduling reasons. Fraser’s 63 was matched later that week by Matt Kuchar, who earned the bronze medal, and several times in Tokyo in 2021 – by Sepp Straka, gold medal winner Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa and Sungjae Im. But at least Fraser was the first to do it.

It’s understandable then, to wonder what Australia might produce in Paris. Can our men and women win a medal? Will more Australians tune in than previous years to watch the men’s golf event (August 1-4) and the women’s tournament (August 7-10), or will there be Olympics viewing fatigue with too many sports on? Will it grow the game, as was the intention when reintroducing golf to the Olympics? Will Australians even know golf is a sport contested at the Games?

Time will tell, but the green-and-gold hopes are much higher for the third edition back. Last month, the International Olympic Committee confirmed each country’s men’s and women’s teams via the Official World Golf Ranking for men, on June 17, and via the Rolex Rankings for women, on June 24. The top 15 golfers on both indexes were automatically eligible for the games, with a maximum of four players per country under that category. Golfers ranked outside the top 15 could also play for their country, but nations could send only two of golfers who fell under that eligibility.

Australia’s men’s and women’s teams are a combination of major winners and rising stars. Hannah Green, the 2019 Women’s PGA champion, and multiple major winner Minjee Lee will become the first Australian golfers to maintain the same team in consecutive Olympics. Lee, 28, will tee up in a remarkable third straight Olympics alongside 2021 teammate Green, who was on debut in Tokyo. Green earned the best golf result by an Australian woman at the Olympics with her tie for fifth. Now, she’ll tee up at Le Golf National as world No.5 and with Lee at No.10. Our men’s team, on the other hand, will look considerably different than 2021, when Marc Leishman and a mullet-wearing Cameron Smith arrived in Tokyo looking like Contiki tour managers. Smith, the 2022 Open champion, is Australia’s most recent major champion, but given he and Leishman play on LIV Golf, which does not offer world-ranking points, both weren’t high enough to make the team. Instead, Day and Min Woo Lee will comprise our men’s team and while they aren’t two top-10 golfers like Green and Lee, Day and Lee will bring the firepower and creative short games needed to threaten the men’s podium.

Let’s look at Australia’s men’s and women’s teams for Paris 2024:

Hannah Green

Age: 27

Rolex Ranking: 5

Best Olympics result: T-5 (2021)

Career LPGA Tour wins: 5

Majors: 2019 Women’s PGA Championship

2024: Green has been one of the standout performers not named Nelly Korda on the LPGA Tour in 2024, joining the American world No.1 as the only two multiple winners this year. Green, from Perth, triumphed at the HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore in March before claiming the LA Championship at Wilshire Country Club in April, her second straight year winning the event. Green, who married Aussie tour pro Jarryd Felton in January, also finished second to Korda at the Mizuho Americas Championship. At the two majors prior to June 24, Green brushed off a missed cut at the Chevron Championship by earning a T-16 at the US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club. She knows what to expect at the Olympics and is a more complete player than in 2021. Not to mention, Green will be buzzing at the idea of competing in an Olympics under normal conditions, not the isolated rules of COVID-19 that were in place in Tokyo. The 27-year-old finished just two shots shy of a medal in Japan.

Green on the Paris Olympics: “In Tokyo, I never really got to get the full experience [with COVID protocols]. We decided to stay in a hotel versus in the Olympic Village. I didn’t get to meet any other athletes. It was strict, we had to stay in our hotel room or go to the golf course. So just experiencing that will be really cool – to meet other athletes that perhaps might be their last Olympics. A gold medal is such an amazing achievement no matter what sport you’re playing; it’s been on my mind ever since we finished in Tokyo. I rank it just as high as a major championship, even more exclusive, happening only once every four years.”

Minjee Lee

Age: 28

Rolex Ranking: 10

Best Olympics result: T-7 (2016)

Career LPGA Tour wins: 10

Majors: 2021 Evian Championship, 2022 US Women’s Open

2024: Lee has had three top-10s on the LPGA Tour in 2024 including at the US Women’s Open. At Lancaster Country Club, Lee had one hand on her third major trophy when she led on the back nine during the final round, only to stumble and plummet to a tie for ninth. Lee will be determined to bounce back in the form of a medal at the Olympics, and her accurate driving will be a huge advantage in the narrow corridors at Le Golf National.

Lee on the Paris Olympics: “I’m really excited to represent Australia in my third Olympics. Playing again alongside my talented friend, Hannah Green, is a privilege after we played together in Tokyo in 2021. I can’t wait to give my all for Australia. What makes this time even more special is having my brother, Min Woo, make his Olympic debut. Sharing this experience with him is incredibly cool. I’ll be watching him play on the weekend if I get into Paris a little bit earlier.”

Jason Day

Age: 36

World ranking: 24 

Best Olympics result: N/A

Career PGA Tour wins: 13

Majors: 2015 PGA Championship

2024: After a resurgent 2023, which included a drought-breaking 13th PGA Tour victory at the Byron Nelson event, Day’s 2024 campaign has been solid with four top-10s, three of which came at signature events. At the majors, Day has been lacklustre with a T-30 at the Masters, T-43 at the PGA and a missed cut at the US Open at Pinehurst. But Day will be inspired to play well at the Olympics given it could be his last Games at the age of 36. He skipped the opportunity to tee it up in 2016 in Rio and failed to qualify for the Australian team in 2021 (when Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith represented Australia). Now, he has a chance to show Australia that playing in the green and gold means something to him.

Day on the Paris Olympics: “I think I made a bit of a mistake not going down to Rio. Even though part of it was family-related, I missed out on that, and I probably should have gone. I’m looking forward to going [to Paris].”

Min Woo Lee

Age: 25

World ranking: 36

Best Olympics result: N/A

Career PGA Tour wins: 0 (3 DP World Tour wins)

Majors: 0

2024: Lee had a breakout year in 2023, finishing in the top-five at the US Open, and winning the Asian Tour’s Macao Open and the DP World Tour’s Australian PGA. He also secured a PGA Tour card in the US for 2024, where Lee has been more consistent – but less potent – than last year while finding his footing. A tie for second place at the tournament in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, is one of the reasons Lee was 63rd on the FedEx Cup standings at the time of writing. He had finished in the top-25 in 50 percent of his PGA Tour events prior to the Olympics deadline and was top-26 in the first three majors of 2024.

Lee on the Paris Olympics: “I’m incredibly proud to be named on Australia’s Olympic team for the Games. The Olympics are the pinnacle of athletic achievement and it’s still surreal to call myself an Olympian. It’s even more special to share this journey with my sister as we both represent team Australia. Competing alongside Jason Day, one of the legends of Australian golf, is a dream come true. I’m excited
for Paris.” 

The Olympic golf course

Le Golf National is in Guyancourt, near the elegant commune of Versailles. It hosts the French Open on the DP World Tour each year and staged the Ryder Cup in 2018. It’s an interesting course designed to be a hybrid between a parkland course with water, and somewhat of an inland, faux links with artificial dunes topped by wiregrass. For the 2018 Ryder Cup, the European team had the course set up with each of the fairways pinching in about 200 yards from the green, which suited the superior mid-iron players on the home team. The Europeans took advantage to win, 17½-10½.

Dummies’ guide to the 2024 Olympics

Dates: Men, Thursday, August 1 to Sunday, August 4; Women, Wednesday, August 7 to Saturday, August 10.

Format: 72-hole strokeplay with gold, silver and bronze medals awarded to the top three finishers. There’s also a sudden-death playoff in the event of ties, i.e. if a player wins gold at 12-under-par, but two players finish tied for second at 11-under, they’ll enter a playoff to determine silver and bronze.

Qualification: 60 players play in each competition. The top end of both fields is made from the top 15 players with a limit of four golfers per country. For the remaining 45 competitors in the men’s and women’s events, each country can submit two players for this category.

Australian teams: Jason Day and Min Woo Lee; Hannah Green and Minjee Lee.

2021 medal winners: Men: Gold – Xander Schauffele (US), Silver – Rory Sabbatini (Slovakia), Bronze – C.T. Pan (Taiwan). Women: Gold – Nelly Korda (US), Silver – Mone Inami (Japan), Bronze – Lydia Ko (New Zealand).