Qualification for Golf at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil is determined not by any form of qualifying tournament, but by the rankings maintained by the International Golf Federation. Qualification was based on world ranking as of 11 July 2016, with a total of 60 players qualifying in each of the men's and women's events. The top 15 players of each gender qualified, with a limit of four golfers per country that can qualify this way. The remaining spots went to the highest-ranked players from countries that do not already have two golfers qualified, with a limit of two per country. The IGF has guaranteed that at least one golfer from the host nation and each geographical region qualified. The IGF posted weekly lists of qualifiers based on current rankings for men and women.
Qualified players
Men
Rank
Name
Country
World Ranking
1
Bubba Watson
5
2
Henrik Stenson
6
3
Rickie Fowler
7
4
Danny Willett
9
5
Justin Rose
11
6
Sergio García
12
7
Patrick Reed
13
8
Matt Kuchar
15
9
Rafael Cabrera-Bello
28
10
An Byeong-hun
31
11
Thongchai Jaidee
38
12
Danny Lee
40
13
Emiliano Grillo
44
14
David Lingmerth
48
15
Søren Kjeldsen
50
16
Bernd Wiesberger
51
17
Martin Kaymer
52
18
Kiradech Aphibarnrat
53
19
Anirban Lahiri
62
20
Thorbjørn Olesen
64
21
Joost Luiten
65
22
Thomas Pieters
66
23
Jaco van Zyl
67
24
Fabián Gómez
73
25
Wang Jeung-hun
76
26
Scott Hend
81
27
Marcus Fraser
86
28
Brandon Stone
92
29
Yuta Ikeda
93
30
Shingo Katayama
107
31
Grégory Bourdy
112
32
Julien Quesne
123
33
Nicolas Colsaerts
124
34
Ricardo Gouveia
125
35
David Hearn
127
36
Wu Ashun
129
37
Miguel Tabuena
140
38
Li Haotong
141
39
Alex Čejka
143
40
Graham DeLaet
146
41
Fabrizio Zanotti
147
42
Pádraig Harrington
148
43
Ryan Fox
184
44
Shiv Chawrasia
207
45
Danny Chia
230
46
Mikko Ilonen
235
47
Jhonattan Vegas
240
48
Felipe Aguilar
248
49
Pan Cheng-tsung
256
50
Adilson da Silva
271
51
Séamus Power
290
52
Espen Kofstad
291
53
Roope Kakko
293
54
Nino Bertasio
299
55
Siddikur Rahman
308
56
Lin Wen-tang
315
57
Gavin Green
321
58
Matteo Manassero
342
59
Rodolfo Cazaubón
344
60
José-Filipe Lima
392
The following men have removed themselves from possible qualification:
The Zika virus, which can cause serious birth defects and is currently epidemic in Brazil, can live longer in semen than in blood, and might thus infect a male golfer's partner for up to six months later or even more. Consequently, far more top male golfers than top female golfers have withdrawn from the games.
Women
Rank
Name
Country
World Ranking
1
Lydia Ko
1
2
Brooke Henderson
2
3
Inbee Park
3
4
Lexi Thompson
4
5
Kim Sei-young
5
6
Amy Yang
6
7
Ariya Jutanugarn
7
8
Chun In-gee
8
9
Stacy Lewis
9
10
Anna Nordqvist
11
11
Shanshan Feng
13
12
Minjee Lee
14
13
Gerina Piller
15
14
Suzann Pettersen
18
15
Haru Nomura
22
16
Charley Hull
27
17
Teresa Lu
28
18
Candie Kung
32
19
Pornanong Phatlum
34
20
Carlota Ciganda
36
21
Su-Hyun Oh
41
22
Shiho Oyama
43
23
Azahara Muñoz
48
24
Xi Yu Lin
50
25
Sandra Gal
55
26
Karine Icher
60
27
Catriona Matthew
63
28
Caroline Masson
77
29
Nicole Broch Larsen
88
30
Pernilla Lindberg
90
31
Alena Sharp
91
32
Gaby López
98
33
Mariajo Uribe
103
34
Nanna Koerstz Madsen
109
35
Paula Reto
122
36
Gwladys Nocera
134
37
Julieta Granada
135
38
Kelly Tan
153
39
Marianne Skarpnord
155
40
Ashleigh Simon
214
41
Laetitia Beck
223
42
Giulia Molinaro
251
43
Ursula Wikström
256
44
Noora Tamminen
274
45
Klára Spilková
279
46
Christine Wolf
317
47
Giulia Sergas
326
48
Maria Verchenova
338
49
Leona Maguire
353
50
Albane Valenzuela
378
51
Alejandra Llaneza
385
52
Chloe Leurquin
402
53
Fabienne In-Albon
408
54
Tiffany Chan
434
55
Michelle Koh
443
56
Aditi Ashok
444
57
Miriam Nagl
445
58
Victoria Lovelady
458
59
Stephanie Meadow
492
60
Maha Haddioui
560
= amateur The following women removed themselves from possible qualification:
Dottie Ardina of Philippines
Lee-Anne Pace of South Africa
The following women have been removed from possible qualification by their NOC:
