Olympic career of Spanish golf at the US Open | Paris 2024 Olympic Games

He goes to Paris through North Carolina. You reach the Games through the US Open. The third major of the golf season, which begins this Thursday (1:30 p.m., Movistar) on the Pinehurst course, is the last key to qualifying for the Olympic event. The International Federation will close this coming Monday the period that determines who will represent their countries in the men’s competition that will take place at the Le Golf National layout, in Versailles, from August 1 to 4. So this new Grand Slam stop is the last opportunity to score points in the ranking world championship and therefore to enter the group of 60 men and 60 women who will compete in Paris.

The race is a sprint on the Spanish team. Jon Rahm now has a fixed place as the eighth golfer in the world, despite the fact that he will not compete in the US Open due to an infection in his left foot caused by suffering a cut between his two little toes, a very painful area because the weight of the body falls there. in it swing. The Basque has continued downhill since he signed for the Saudi League, without victories since the 2023 Masters, and with a gray role in the greats of this course: 45th in Augusta and outside the cut in the PGA. His challenge now is to recover for the next LIV events, especially Valderrama (July 12-14), for the British Open (July 18-21) and the Games.

Rahm’s companion in Paris is in the air. The battle has been reduced to two candidates: David Puig and Jorge Campillo, the next two Spaniards after the Basque in the world rankings. Puig, a 22-year-old from Barcelona and a LIV player, is ranked 116. Campillo, a 38-year-old from Cáceres and with a PGA tour card, only falls one step lower, at 117. The US Open will decide the winner of this duel, although it all depends on what Puig does, since Campillo is not qualified for this major nor is he competing this week on the European circuit (that is, he will not add any more points until Monday). If Puig makes the cut, he will enter Paris once the information is updated on Monday. ranking Olympic. If the Catalan does not advance to the weekend, Campillo will be in his second Games after covering Rahm’s last-minute loss due to covid in Tokyo.

They are two golf workers. Puig has been looking for points under the rocks because LIV does not count towards the world rankings. This is how he has competed in secondary circuits such as the Asian Tour: victory in the Malaysia Open in February, tenth in Oman, second in Macau… Campillo achieved the PGA card for this course after a career in the shadows with three victories on the circuit European, in 2019, 2020 and 2023. The man from Cáceres will watch a US Open on television where two other Spaniards also compete, both from the Saudi League: Sergio García and Eugenio López-Chacarra, these without options to go to the Games. It is another of those tolls for those who accepted the million-dollar offers from Saudi Arabia.

Elbows in the Spanish men’s team do not exist in the women’s team. Carlota Ciganda and Azahara Muñoz will be the Spanish representation for the third Games in a row after Rio and Tokyo.

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