Golf makes its triumphant return to the Olympics on Thursday with the start of the men’s tournament, although many of the PGA Tour’s top stars won’t be in Rio de Janeiro.
Each of the world’s top four golfers — Jason Day (No. 1), Dustin Johnson (No. 2), Jordan Spieth (No. 3) and Rory McIlroy (No. 4) — have decided to skip the Olympics for various reasons, but there still will be a few stars (and rodents) teeing off Thursday at the Olympic Golf Course.
Top-10 golfers Bubba Watson and Rickie Fowler will represent the United States along with Matt Kuchar and Patrick Reed. Spain’s Sergio Garcia, Sweden’s Henrik Stenson and Great Britain’s Danny Willett and Justin Rose also are names to watch out for.
Both the men’s and the women’s (which starts next Wednesday) tournaments will be treated and scored like any other weekend on the PGA and LPGA tours, although there won’t be a cut after the second round. More information on the women’s tournament will be made available closer to the event.
Here’s everything you need to know about Olympic golf:
MEN’S TOURNAMENT
TV Schedule (All times ET on Golf Channel)
Thursday, Round 1: 6:30 a.m.-3 p.m.
Friday, Round 2: 6:30 a.m.-3 p.m.
Saturday, Round 3: 6:30 a.m.-3 p.m.
Sunday, Round 4: 6:30 a.m.-3 p.m.
Tee Times
Round 1
6:30 a.m.:Â Adilson da Silva (Brazil), Graham DeLaet (Canada), An Byeong Hun (South Korea)
6:41 a.m.:Â Padraig Harrington (Ireland), Matteo Manassero (Italy), Danny Lee (New Zealand)
6:52 a.m.:Â Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Thailand), Gavin Green (Malaysia), Thomas Pieters (Belgium)
7:03 a.m.:Â Julien Quesne (France), Marcus Fraser (Australia)Â Shingo Katayama (Japan)
7:14 a.m.: Nicolas Colsaerts (Belgium), Wang Jeung-hun (South Korea), Espen Kofstad (Norway)
7:25Â a.m.:Â Felipe Aguilar (Chile), Danny Chia (Malaysia), Soren Kjeldsen (Denmark)
7:41 a.m.:Â Fabian Gomez (Argentina), David Lingmerth (Sweden), Jose-Felipe Lima (Portugal)
7:52 a.m.:Â Rodolfo Cazaubon (Mexico), Bernd Weisberger (Austria), Brandon Stone (South Africa)
8:03Â a.m.:Â Danny Willett (Great Britain), Matt Kuchar (United States), Li Haotong (China)
8:14 a.m.:Â Bubba Watson (United States), Martin Kaymer (Germany), Anirban Lahiri (India)
8:25Â a.m.:Â Jaco van Zyl (South Africa), Mikko Ilonen (Finland), David Hearn (Canada)
8:36 a.m.:Â Gregory Bourdy (France), Fabrizio Zanotti (Paraguay), Pan Cheng-tsung (Chinese Taipei)
8:47 a.m.:Â Yuta Ikeda (Japan), Roope Kakko (Finland), Miguel Tabuena (Philippines)
9:03 a.m.:Â Wu Ashun (China), Nino Bertasio (Italy), Scott Hend (Australia)
9:14 a.m.:Â Joost Luiten (Netherlands), Ricardo Gouveia (Portugal), Siddikur Rahman (Bangladesh)
9:25 a.m.:Â Sergio Garcia (Spain), Patrick Reed (United States), Emiliano Grillo (Argentina)
9:36Â a.m.:Â Thorbjorn Olesen (Denmark), Alex Cejka (Germany), Ryan Fox (New Zealand)
9:47 a.m.:Â Shiv Chawrasia (India), Seamus Power (Ireland), Lin Wen-tang (Chinese Taipei))
9:58 a.m.:Â Rickie Fowler (United States), Justin Rose (Great Britain), Jhonattan Vegas (Venezuela)
10:09 a.m.:Â Henrik Stenson (Sweden), Thongchai Jaidee (Thailand), Rafael Cabrera-Bello (Spain)
Round 2
6:30 a.m.:Â Jaco van Zyl (South Africa), Mikko Ilonen (Finland), David Hearn (Canada)
6:41 a.m.:Â Gregory Bourdy (France), Fabrizio Zanotti (Paraguay), Pan Cheng-tsung (Chinese Taipei)
6:52 a.m.:Â Yuta Ikeda (Japan), Roope Kakko (Finland), Miguel Tabuena (Philippines)
7:03 a.m.:Â Wu Ashun (China), Nino Bertasio (Italy), Scott Hend (Australia)
7:14 a.m.: Joost Luiten (Netherlands), Ricardo Gouveia (Portugal), Siddikur Rahman (Bangladesh)
7:25Â a.m.:Â Sergio Garcia (Spain), Patrick Reed (United States), Emiliano Grillo (Argentina)
7:41 a.m.: Thorbjorn Olesen (Denmark), Alex Cejka (Germany), Ryan Fox (New Zealand)
7:52 a.m.:Â Shiv Chawrasia (India), Seamus Power (Ireland), Lin Wen-tang (Chinese Taipei)
8:03Â a.m.:Â Rickie Fowler (United States), Justin Rose (Great Britain), Jhonattan Vegas (Venezuela)
8:14 a.m.:Â Henrik Stenson (Sweden), Thongchai Jaidee (Thailand), Rafael Cabrera-Bello (Spain)
8:25Â a.m.:Â Adilson da Silva (Brazil), Graham DeLaet (Canada), An Byeong Hun (South Korea)
8:36 a.m.:Â Padraig Harrington (Ireland), Matteo Manassero (Italy), Danny Lee (New Zealand)
8:47 a.m.:Â Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Thailand), Gavin Green (Malaysia), Thomas Pieters (Belgium)
9:03 a.m.:Â Julien Quesne (France), Marcus Fraser (Australia)Â Shingo Katayama (Japan)
9:14 a.m.: Nicolas Colsaerts (Belgium), Wang Jeung-hun (South Korea), Espen Kofstad (Norway)
9:25 a.m.:Â Felipe Aguilar (Chile), Danny Chia (Malaysia), Soren Kjeldsen (Denmark)
9:36Â a.m.:Â Fabian Gomez (Argentina), David Lingmerth (Sweden), Jose-Felipe Lima (Portugal)
9:47 a.m.:Â Rodolfo Cazaubon (Mexico), Bernd Weisberger (Austria), Brandon Stone (South Africa)
9:58 a.m.:Â Danny Willett (Great Britain), Matt Kuchar (United States), Li Haotong (China)
10:09 a.m.:Â Bubba Watson (United States), Martin Kaymer (Germany), Anirban Lahiri (India)
WOMEN’S TOURNAMENT
TV Schedule (All times ET on Golf Channel)
Wednesday, Aug. 17, Round 1: 6:30 a.m.-3 p.m.
Thursday, Aug. 18, Round 2: 6:30 a.m.-3 p.m.
Friday, Aug. 19, Round 3: 6:30 a.m.-3 p.m.
Saturday, Aug. 20, Round 4: 6:30 a.m.-3 p.m.
LIVE STREAM
NBCOlympics.com
Thumbnail photo via Christopher Hanewinckel/USA TODAY Sports Images
