2024 Paris Olympics: Xander Schauffele, Nelly Korda in line to defend gold medals at Summer Games

USATSI

The PGA Tour and LPGA are in full swing with major championships and big events seemingly every other week. Those are not the only tournaments which players have circled on this year's calendar, however, as the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris are fast approaching and will be here before they know it.

Less than one month separates the men's game from the finalization of the Olympic Golf Rankings -- the standings used to determine eligibility for the Olympics -- as the qualification period comes to an end at the conclusion of the U.S. Open. While the rankings sound unique, they are essentially a copy of the Official World Golf Rankings.

Here's how qualification for the Olympics works:

Top 15 in the OWGR are eligible, but no more than four players can be selected from a given nation.
Outside the top 15, "players will be eligible based on the world rankings, with a maximum of two eligible players from each country that does not already have two or more players among the top 15."

Xander Schauffele more or less locked up his spot on the U.S. team with his win at the PGA Championship as the Olympic gold medalist jumped to No. 2 in the OWGR and is set to join Scottie Scheffler in Paris. Since there are more than four men from the United States inside the top 15 in the OWGR, the red white and blue will be represented by four players on the men's side.

"It's just a cherry on top," Schauffele said after securing his spot on the team with his PGA victory. "It's totally separate to competing in the Olympics. It definitely helps with the qualifying process. That was my goal, obviously, was to qualify. The U.S. team is a strong one. It's a hard one to qualify for. I imagine this win probably secures me into qualifying for the Olympics. That's a whole different ballgame, winning that one. But definitely be able to pull some confidence from this thing."

The usual suspects have locked up spots on their respective nations with Rory McIlroy representing Ireland alongside Shane Lowry and Jon Rahm representing Spain. Viktor Hovland is a sure thing for Norway, just as Ludvig Åberg is for Sweden. Hideki Matsuyama will once again represent Japan, but there are still many nations, including the U.S., whose roster is far from solidified.

2024 Olympics men's outlook

United States

Scottie Scheffler (No. 1)
Xander Schauffele (No. 2)
Wyndham Clark (No. 4)
Patrick Cantlay (No. 8)

Scheffler and Schauffele present a formidable duo, and as of right now, they will be joined by Clark and Cantlay. This foursome could be short-lived, however, as Nos. 9-12 in the OWGR are filled by Americans with Collin Morikawa, Max Homa, Brian Harman and Sahith Theegala all vying for that last spot.

Great Britain

Tommy Fleetwood (No. 13)
Matt Fitzpatrick (No. 15)

Unless Tyrell Hatton (No. 18) does something special at the U.S. Open (since he does not receive points on LIV Golf), Fleetwood and Fitzpatrick should be the two to represent Great Britain.

Australia

Jason Day (No. 19)
Min Woo Lee (No. 38)

It is a crowded Australian contingent jostling for the second spot on the team. Lee leads the way, as of now, with Adam Scott (No. 62), Ryan Fox (No. 63), Cameron Smith (No. 66) and Cameron Davis (No. 67) still in with a chance to usurp him over the next month. Smith and Marc Leishman represented Australia in Tokyo, meaning a fresh squad is likely to form in Paris.

Republic of Korea

Byeong Hun An (No. 23)
Tom Kim (No. 26)

It's a four-man race for two spots, and it is still very much in the air. Sungjae Im (No. 34) and Si Woo Kim (No. 42) represented the Republic of Korea in 2021 and have their work cut out for them if they are do so again.

Canada

Nick Taylor (No. 28)
Corey Conners (No. 50)

Taylor seems to be locked in for the Canadians, but the same cannot be said for Conners. His fellow countrymen are nipping at his heels with Adam Hadwin (No. 55), Taylor Pendrith (No. 61) and Mackenzie Hughes (No. 68) all still in contention with a month remaining.

Schauffele isn't the only gold medalist who is set to defend at Le Golf National in Paris this summer; Nelly Korda will do the same. Winning her sixth tournament of the year last week at Mizuho Americas Open, Korda continues to widen the gap between her and the rest of the women's pack.

She is locked into making the trip to Paris and will be joined by world No. 2 Lilia Vu. Young phenom Rose Zhang rose to world No. 6 with her most recent victory and all but locked up her spot on the U.S. team that is currently rounded out by world No. 15 Megan Khang, but that could all change as the qualification period for the women's golf competition concludes on June 24 following the KPMG Women's PGA Championship.

2024 Olympics women's outlook

United States

Nelly Korda (No. 1)
Lilia Vu (No. 2)
Rose Zhang (No. 6)
Megan Khang (No. 15)

Similar to the men's team, the final spot on the U.S. roster will be heavily contested. Alison Lee (No. 18), Allisen Corpuz (No. 21) and Angel Yin (No. 25) all still have a chance to climb inside the top 15 and book their trips to Paris.

Australia

Hannah Green (No. 5)
Minjee Lee (No. 9)

Green just defended her title at the JM Eagle LA Championship to climb into the top Australian spot. Meanwhile, if both Lees (Min Woo and Minjee) hold onto their current rankings, that means we will see a brother-sister duo in the Olympics representing their country.