Cal Sports Report

Ex-Cal Golfers Collin Morikawa, Byeong Hun An Going to Olympics

Former Golden Bear golfer Max Homa is ranked 15th in the world, but only four from the U.S. qualify for Paris Games

Jake Curtis

Byeong-Hun An qualified for the Paris Olympics
Byeong-Hun An qualified for the Paris Olympics / Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
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We learned shortly after the U.S. Open was completed that Cal graduate Collin Morikawa had qualified to participate in the golf events at the Paris Summer Olympics.  But he is not the only former Cal golfer who will be part of the 60-player field for the Olympic golf event, which will be conducted August 1-4.

Byeong Hun An, who played his one and only collegiate season of golf at Cal, will represent South Korea in the Paris Olympics.

The four Olympic spots available to American golfers were determined by the Official World Golf Rankings, and Morikawa qualified for the fourth and final spot along with Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele and Wyndham Clark by virtue of being ranked No. 7 in the rankings released Monday.  Morikawa barely beat out Patrick Cantlay, who is No. 8 in this week’s rankings.

An began 2023 ranked 230th in the world, but this week is at No. 27, allowing him to be one of two South Koreans to qualify for the Olympics, along with Tom Kim.

The top 15 golfers in this week’s world rankings automatically qualify for the Olympics, and former Cal golfer Max Homa is No. 15 this week.  But because the United States is not permitted to have more than four representatives at the Olympics, Homa will not participate in the Summer Games.

The 60 golfers will play four 18-hole rounds, just like a typical PGA Tour event, on the Le Golf National course, located just outside of Paris in Guyancourt, France. The top three finishers will earn gold, silver and bronze medals.

Both Morikawa and An have previous Olympic experience. Morikawa placed fourth and narrowly missed out on a medal for the United States at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and An finished 11th for South Korea at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

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Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

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