Mexico’s Carlos Ortiz believes there are certain players who should be in the field for the men’s Olympic golf event at Paris 2024 but are not due to an “unfair” situation which has been created by ongoing politics in the sport.
The 33-year-old – who did not reference anyone by name – qualified for this week’s competition at Le Golf National as the 48th player on the Olympic Golf Ranking list alongside Abraham Ancer – a fellow LIV player and Mexican professional – who squeezed in as the 56th man out of 60.
There are seven LIV players in the Olympic golf tournament, but only two qualified in the top half of the OGR table – Jon Rahm (8th) and Adrian Meronk (29th). Both moved to the 54-hole league around three quarters of the way through the qualifying window.
Chile’s Joaquin Niemann (34th) and Spain’s David Puig (37th) were in the midfield pack when qualifying ended on June 17, while the remaining three LIV golfers – which includes Mito Pereira (53rd), who replaced original qualifier Cristobal Del Solar – languished in the bottom 25%.
A key factor behind LIV players struggling to rise up the OGR was due to the league being ineligible for world-ranking points by the Official World Golf Ranking organization.
LIV Golf CEO and commissioner, Greg Norman
(Image credit: Getty Images)
The PIF-backed competition abandoned its attempts to secure OWGR points in March following several knock-backs, leaving its golfers to either accept a slide down the standings or force them to play on recognized circuits such as the Asian Tour during weeks without a LIV event.
One of the key figures on LIV, Cameron Smith, admitted he was “desperately hoping” to represent Australia at the Olympics but ultimately fell short in favor of Min Woo Lee and Jason Day.
Smith’s predicament was similar to Bryson DeChambeau’s, with the American acknowledging it was a “disappointing and frustrating situation” after he also failed to make the extremely strong four-man US squad.
Shortly before being asked about DeChambeau specifically, Ortiz and Ancer were posed a question regarding just how difficult it was for LIV golfers to qualify for Paris 2024.
Ortiz said: “It’s just the situation in golf right now, it’s unfair. Especially Olympic Games, you want to have the best golfers right here, but politics somehow manage…
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