Dutch Golfer Who Won a Lawsuit to Play in Paris Olympics Appears Shut Out After All

Joost Luiten successfully sued his country’s Olympic committee to play but the field for Paris had already been set.

Joost Luiten of Netherlands looks like he'll miss the Paris Olympics. / Erich Schlegel-USA TODAY Sports

The wild journey that a Dutch golfer took to try to play in the Olympics looks as if it won’t end in Paris after all.

Joost Luiten, 38 and a six-time winner on the DP World Tour, was originally not going to compete in Paris for the Netherlands despite meeting Olympic ranking criteria. His home country’s Olympic committee didn’t believe that Luiten or its other men’s players could win a medal, but Luiten sued and won, with a judge ruling that the Dutch committee had to immediately register Luiten for Olympic golf or risk a fine.

But the spot which Luiten would have had was already given to someone else from another country.

“When the International Golf Federation (IGF) received notification of Joost Luiten's court ruling in the Netherlands and his entry from the Netherlands’ National Olympic Committee (NOC*NSF), his unused quota spot had already been reallocated pursuant to the IGF’s published qualification procedures,” the IGF said Tuesday in a statement.

The IGF then petitioned the International Olympic Committee to increase the field size of the men’s tournament from its customary 60 to 61 to include Luiten, but Tuesday the IOC denied that request.

“The IGF has advised Luiten of the IOC's decision, and he has not informed the IGF whether he intends to pursue this matter further,” the statement read. 

Luiten was ranked No. 147 in the Official World Golf Ranking and No. 40 in the International Golf Federation rankings (the latter used to fill the 60-player Olympic fields), but the Dutch committee requires men’s golfers to be ranked inside the top 27 of the IGF rankings.

Luiten sued for the chance to compete and there was precedence for golfers medaling despite residing down the world rankings. At the Tokyo Olympics, Rory Sabbatini won a silver medal for Slovakia despite coming in 161st in the world and C.T. Pan of Taiwan, ranked 181st in the world, won a playoff for bronze. The Netherlands declined to send any male golfers to those games. 

Luiten finished 27th in Rio in 2016.