Breaking down Canadian Olympic golf scenarios

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PINEHURST, N.C. — There is a tournament within a tournament going on for Canada’s top contenders at Pinehurst this weekend.

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With Olympic men’s golf qualifying closing on Sunday at the end of the U.S. Open, there is still plenty left to be decided about which two Canadians will punch their ticket to Paris.

Heading into the week, Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin held the two spots on Team Canada on the strength of their world golf rankings, the metric used to decide the team.

Taylor entered the week in top spot on the team, ranked 32nd in the world. Unfortunately, the four-time winner on the PGA Tour missed the cut at Pinehurst No. 2. It was his eighth consecutive missed cut at a major.

Adam Hadwin came to Pinehurst off an impressive third-place finish at Memorial that saw him leapfrog Corey Conners in the world rankings and Olympic rankings. Hadwin began play at the U.S. Open ranked 35th in the world. But Hadwin also missed the cut this week.

Taylor and Hadwin’s misfortune has opened the door for Conners, as well as Taylor Pendrith to make a run for a spot in Paris this weekend.

Here are the most likely mathematical scenarios for either player to earn their way into the Olympics:

Corey Conners needs minimum of solo 11th or better to catch Hadwin for the second Olympic spot.

Taylor Pendrith needs an even better finish, requiring a minimum of two-way tie for thrid to catch Hadwin.

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Taylor should be safe in top spot on the Canadian Olympic team as long as Sunday at the U.S. Open doesn’t turn into an all-Canadian battle at the top. It would take something along the lines of Conners and Pendrith both finishing in the top three to have both players leapfrog both Hadwin and Taylor, so the 2023 RBC Canadian Open champ should feel pretty safe.

Conners and Pendrith are both obviously focused this weekend on making a run at their first major championship, but as we see here, the U.S. Open trophy isn’t the only thing up for grabs.

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