“Golf does not belong in the Olympics,” a popular belief that clouded the synthesis between the holistic sport and the glorified Olympic Games for 112 years. After inaugurating the sport in the Paris 1900 and St. Louis 1904 editions of the event, a century-long hiatus overshadowed this once-budding connection. Interestingly enough, golf made its roaring return to the world’s premier sporting event’s stage at the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil.

Ever since, the game of golf has consistently registered its name in every edition of the Olympics, including the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The 2024 Olympic Games in Paris have already seen an influx of top names fighting hard to grab a spot, a significant step up from the 2016 reality where the significance of the Olympics was underestimated. Currently, the top American names who have grabbed a spot on the flight to France remain Scottie Scheffler, the Tokyo Olympics gold medal holder Xander Schauffele, Wyndham Clark, and (most likely) Collin Morikawa. But despite the leg-up, one question surrounds the sports world: Why was golf not a part of the Olympics for over a century until 2016?