Joost Luiten took a step closer to fulfilling his Olympic dream Saturday but he’s not yet in the Paris Games.
Luiten originally qualified for the men’s competition via the Olympic golf rankings, which is based on the world ranking, but the Dutch Olympic Committee-Dutch Sports Federation (NOC-NSF) denied his spot because he did not meet its own criteria. Luiten then won a court case saying that he should be allowed to compete; however, his spot had already been reallocated. That court order is also not recognized by the International Olympic Committee.
The International Golf Federation requested the IOC expand the field to 61 players but that was denied. On Saturday, the IGF announced it had placed Luiten on the reallocation list.
“The International Golf Federation recognizes an error was made by the Dutch NOC-NSF with its qualification criteria and subsequently during the confirmation process for men’s Olympic golf qualifier Joost Luiten,” a statement from the IGF said. “This error was confirmed via legal process, though only after the field for the men’s Olympic golf competition was finalized.”
Unless the IOC reconsiders and expands the field to 61 players, Luiten’s only chance to participate in the Olympic golf tournament is if another player withdraws (depending on that player’s country). The men’s competition is Aug. 1-4 at Le Golf National.
Luiten and two other golfers from the Netherlands, Darius van Driel and Dewi Weber, earned a spot in the Paris Games based on the IGF’s qualification criteria but the Dutch NOC-NSF initially denied them spots because the committee didn’t believe the players had a reasonable chance to finish in the top eight.
Luiten is 159th in the world ranking. By comparison, Slovakia’s Rory Sabbatini and Chinese Taipei’s C.T. Pan were ranked 161st and 181st, respectively, four years ago at the Tokyo Games and won silver and bronze medals.
Luiten’s spot was reallocated by the IGF to Finland’s Tapio Pulkkanen.