On April 9, the International Olympic Committee announced that golf, along with several other sports, will have more medal-winning opportunities. Golf will feature a mixed team event at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028. “The mixed events are a real, true embodiment of gender equality—men and women competing on the same team, on the same field of play for their country. We’ve seen the real success of these [mixed-gender events]. They bring something incredibly special for the athletes involved.” Kit McConnell, who is the IOC Sports Director, explained.

The mixed team event is already there in several common Olympic events like shooting and archery. Golf will join their ranks, and this will provide another medal-winning opportunity for the talented golfers out there. One such talented golfer, Scottie Scheffler, was asked about the event and its implications for the world of golf.

Speaking to the press before the RBC Heritage Open, Scottie Scheffler was pretty excited about the news. “Well, it sounds like some of us may have another opportunity to win a gold medal for our country, which is always cool. As far as the Olympics go, any time you get to go and represent your country, it’s a really special feeling.” The 2-time major winner explained. He knows the feeling because of his iconic gold medal victory in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

Scheffler was T6 with a score of 10 under par at the end of day 3 but rallied by scoring 9 under par on day 4 to finish on top of the leaderboard and claim a brilliant gold. Scheffler’s Olympic victory was part of his brilliant 2024 PGA Tour campaign, in which he was a step above the rest of the group, claiming six PGA Tour victories during the season. “It’s emotional sitting there on the podium and hearing your national anthem; it really is,” said Scheffler after his iconic victory at the Le Golf National in Paris.

Coming off a brutal loss title defense at the Masters, Scheffler sees the new event at the Olympics as a huge positive boost for all the pros in the golfing world, who have another chance to win a medal at an iconic event. “I haven’t heard much about the format or anything like that. A mixed team event should be fun. I don’t know exactly what it will be, but I think any opportunity you can have to win a gold medal for your country will be pretty special.” Scheffler added.

After carding 68 and 71 on the first two days of the competition at Augusta, Scheffler wasn’t particularly sharp on Saturday. He failed to give himself many birdie opportunities, and spent majority of the day scrambling to save par. He was at 5-under 211 for the tournament. Sharing his feelings about his play, he said at the time, “At times I felt good, at times I felt bad. I just couldn’t really get anything going. I had to scramble a lot today, actually. I got off to a good start (with a birdie on No. 2), but after that I didn’t really feel like I gave myself enough opportunities, and the opportunities that I did have, I didn’t really quite take advantage of.” Came Sunday, he shot 69 to finish 3 strokes behind the winner.

The mixed-team event will take place as a 36-hole competition featuring 18 holes of foursomes (alternate shot) for the first round. It will then have 18 holes of four-ball (best ball) for the last round. Only one team is allowed per country, with teams comprised of players from among those who are already qualified for the Men’s and Women’s Individual Olympic Golf Competitions, per the announcement.

The mixed event allows Team United States to send in amazing talent to compete for another medal. Imagine sending a team of current world No. 1s in Nelly Korda and Scottie Scheffler. Japanese duo Ayaka Furue and Hideki Matsuyama, the latter of whom won the 2024 Olympics bronze medal, are another scary pairing. The brother-sister duo of Minjee Lee and Min Woo Lee, who won the recent Houston Open, is another strong pairing for Australia.

Golf at the Summer Olympics

This is not the first team event at the Summer Olympics. Back in 1904, in the St. Louis Olympics, the men’s team was an event. The event had been conducted a bit haphazardly with only USA golfers involved. Initially, six teams had registered, but on the day of the event, only two teams showed up—the Western Golf Association and the Trans-Mississippi Golf Association. A third team was formed on the spot with members of the United States Golf Association who had come to compete in the individual category.

All three medals went to the USA, with the Western Golf Association claiming the gold. The 1904 edition was also the last time golf had been featured in the Olympics before its re-inclusion in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro edition. The gold was won by George Lyon of Canada after defeating Chandler Egan of the United States in the final of a match-play format.

The sport has grown to become more global and inclusive over time. The mixed team event puts a lot more high-quality golf on the field. And it will be exciting to see how the teams are set.