Sergio Garcia out; Olympic men’s golf field announced

By OlympicTalkJul 6, 2021, 10:29 AM EDT

Getty Images

The Tokyo Olympic men’s golf field was announced Tuesday, drawn from the Official World Golf Ranking after the U.S. Open finished Sunday.

The U.S. qualifying race was still in play going into the U.S. Open, but the results didn’t change the four qualifiers — Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Xander Schauffele and Bryson DeChambeau.

Dustin Johnson, the highest-ranked American at No. 2 behind Spaniard Jon Rahm, said in March that he would decline an Olympic spot. Fellow major champions Sergio Garcia of Spain, Adam Scott of Australia and Martin Kaymer of Germany also withdrew. As did world No. 11 Tyrrell Hatton of Great Britain.

Schauffele said after the U.S. Open on Sunday that he was undecided, but his name is in the field for now. Patrick Cantlay would get in if Schauffele withdraws.

Garcia’s withdrawal was the most recent of the big stars. The 2017 Masters champion pulled out citing a focus on trying to qualify for the Ryder Cup, according to his social media. Garcia, 41, tied for eighth at the 2016 Olympics.

The U.S. is so deep that it’s forced to leave home golfers ranked Nos. 7-9 in the world — Cantlay, Brooks Koepka (who was bearish on accepting a spot if he qualified) and Patrick Reed. A nation can qualify no more than four golfers, and no more than two if any are ranked outside the top 15.

To fill the field of 60, the International Golf Federation had to dip down to the world’s 356th-ranked male golfer, Udayan Mane of India.

Golf returned to the Olympics in 2016 for the first time since 1904. All three Rio Olympic men’s medalists failed to qualify for Tokyo.

The Olympic women’s golf field will be drawn from the Rolex Rankings after the Women’s PGA Championship next week.

Olympic men’s golf field (most recent update July 6):

Jon Rahm (ESP)
Justin Thomas (USA)
Collin Morikawa (USA)
Xander Schauffele (USA)
Bryson DeChambeau (USA)
Rory McIlroy (IRL)
Viktor Hovland (NOR)
Hideki Matsuyama (JPN)
Paul Casey (GBR)
Abraham Ancer (MEX)
Sungjae Im (KOR)
Cameron Smith (AUS)
Joaquin Niemann (CHI)
Tommy Fleetwood (GBR)
Corey Conners (CAN)
Garrick Higgo (RSA)
Shane Lowry (IRL)
Marc Leishman (AUS)
Christiaan Bezuidenhout (RSA)
Siwoo Kim (KOR)
Carlos Ortiz (MEX)
Mackenzie Hughes (CAN)
Sebastian Munoz (COL)
Guido Migliozzi (ITA)
Rikuya Hoshino (JPN)
Antoine Rozner (FRA)
Thomas Detry (BEL)
Alex Noren (SWE)
Thomas Pieters (BEL)
Kalle Samooja (FIN)
Matthias Schwab (AUT)
Rasmus Hojgaard (DEN)
Sami Valimaki (FIN)
Jazz Janewattananond (THA)
Jhonattan Vegas (VEN)
Francesco Molinari (ITA)
Henrik Norlander (SWE)
Guillermo Mito Pereira (CHI)
Adri Arnaus (ESP)
Joachim Hansen (DEN)
Rory Sabbatini (SVK)
Sepp Straka (AUT)
Ryan Fox (NZL)
C.T. Pan (TPE)
Romain Langasque (FRA)
Adrian Meronk (POL)
Maximilian Kieffer (GER)
Juvic Pagunsan (PHI)
Ondrej Lieser (CZE)
Scott Vincent (ZIM)
Gunn Charoenkul (THA)
Hurly Long (GER)
Fabrizio Zanotti (PAR)
Rafael Campos (PUR)
Gavin Green (MAS)
Carl Yuan (CHN)
Kristian Krogh Johannessen (NOR)
Wu Ashun (CHN)
Anirban Lahiri (IND)
Udayan Mane (IND)

OlympicTalk is on Apple News. Favorite us!

Follow @nbcolympictalk

Summer McIntosh breaks 400m individual medley world record, extends historic week

By OlympicTalkApr 1, 2023, 7:03 PM EDT

Getty

Canadian swimmer Summer McIntosh broke her second world record this week, lowering the 400m individual medley mark on Saturday.

McIntosh, a 16-year-old who trains in Sarasota, Florida, clocked 4 minutes, 25.87 seconds at the Canadian Championships in Toronto.

She took down Hungarian Katinka Hosszu‘s world record of 4:26.36 from the 2016 Rio Olympics. Before Saturday, McIntosh had the fourth-fastest time in history of 4:28.61.

“It’s always nice to set world records,” McIntosh said.

On Tuesday, McIntosh broke the 400m freestyle world record, becoming the youngest swimmer to break a world record in an individual Olympic event since Katie Ledecky in 2013.

McIntosh also this week became the fourth-fastest woman in history in the 200m individual medley and the eighth-fastest woman in history in the 200m butterfly.

In each of her four races this week, she also broke the world junior record as the fastest woman in history under the age of 19.

She is entered to swim the 200m free on the meet’s final day on Sunday. She is already the eighth-fastest woman in history in that event.

McIntosh, whose mom swam the 1984 Olympic 200m fly and whose sister competed at last week’s world figure skating championships, placed fourth in the Tokyo Olympic 400m free at age 14.

Last summer, she won the 200m fly and 400m IM at the world championships, becoming the youngest individual world champion since 2011.

This summer, she could be at the center of a showdown in the 400m free at the world championships with reigning world champion Ledecky and reigning Olympic champion Ariarne Titmus of Australia. They are the three fastest women in history in the event.

Around age 7, McIntosh transcribed Ledecky quotes and put them on her wall.

MORE: McIntosh chose swimming and became Canada’s big splash

OlympicTalk is on Apple News. Favorite us!

Follow @nbcolympictalk

Hilary Knight leads new-look U.S. women’s hockey roster for world championship

By OlympicTalkApr 1, 2023, 9:02 AM EDT

Getty

Hilary Knight headlines a U.S. women’s hockey roster for this month’s world championship that lacks some of the biggest names from last year’s Olympic silver-medal team. Changes have been made as the U.S. looks to end losing streaks to Canada, both overall and in major finals.

The full roster is here. Worlds start Wednesday in Brampton, Ontario, and run through the gold-medal game on April 16.

It was already known that the team would be without stalwart forwards Kendall Coyne Schofield, who plans to return to the national team after having her first child this summer, and Brianna Decker, who announced her retirement last month.

Notable cuts include the No. 1 goalies from the last two Olympics: Alex Cavallini, who returned from Christmas childbirth for the tryout camp this past week, and Maddie Rooney, the breakout of the 2018 Olympic champion team.

Cavallini, 31, was bidding to become the first player to make an Olympic or world team after childbirth since Jenny Potter, who played at the Olympics in 2002, 2006 and 2010 as a mom, plus at several world championships, including less than three months after childbirth in 2007.

Forward Hannah Brandt, who played on the top line at last year’s Olympics with Knight and Coyne Schofield, also didn’t make the team.

In all, 13 of the 25 players on the team are Olympians, including three-time Olympic medalists forward Amanda Kessel and defender Lee Stecklein.

The next generation includes forward Taylor Heise, 23, who led the 2022 World Championship with seven goals and was the 2022 NCAA Player of the Year at Minnesota.

The team includes two teens — 19-year-old defender Haley Winn and 18-year-old forward Tessa Janecke — who were also the only teens at last week’s 46-player tryout camp. Janecke, a Penn State freshman, is set to become the youngest U.S. forward to play at an Olympics or worlds since Brandt in 2012.

Abbey Levy, a 6-foot-1 goalie from Boston College, made her first world team, joining veterans Nicole Hensley and Aerin Frankel.

Last summer, Canada repeated as world champion by beating the U.S. in the final, six months after beating the U.S. in the Olympic final. Canada is on its longest global title streak since winning all five Olympic or world titles between 1999 and 2004.

Also at last summer’s worlds, the 33-year-old Knight broke the career world championship record for points (now up to 89). She also has the most goals in world championship history (53). Knight, already the oldest U.S. Olympic women’s hockey player in history, will become the second-oldest American to play at a worlds after Cammi Granato, who was 34 at her last worlds in 2005.

The Canadians are on a four-game win streak versus the Americans, capping a comeback in their recent seven-game rivalry series from down three games to none. Their 5-0 win in the decider in February was their largest margin of victory over the U.S. since 2005.

Last May, former AHL coach John Wroblewski was named U.S. head coach to succeed Joel Johnson, the Olympic coach.

OlympicTalk is on Apple News. Favorite us!

Follow @nbcolympictalk

More: Olympics

More: Olympics

More: Olympics