Before the second round of the Grant Thornton Invitational, Golf Channel’s Rich Lerner welcomed Antony Scanlon, the Executive Director of the International Golf Federation, live on air.
With many top PGA Tour and LPGA stars playing alongside one another this week, Lerner asked Scanlon a simple question: Will golf fans see a mixed event at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles?
“Yeah, very seriously, Rich. We’ve put a submission to the [International Olympic Committee] at the beginning of last year. It’s been considered very seriously by the IOC. Why? Because I think there was about, well, I know there were about 23 events at the Olympic Games in Paris that were mixed team events,” Scanlon explained.
“There’s great, great enthusiasm amongst our players to do that event at the games to add to the success that we’ve had with the individual events of the men and the women and with an event such as the Grant Thornton that’s on right now, and the great play we’re seeing this week, it’s another opportunity for our athletes to display their skills together, males and females, and to win another medal.”
If the IOC passes this proposal—which it would be foolish not to—this mixed event will take place over two days at Riveria Country Club. The first round would be fourball, and on day two, the format would switch to foursomes. It will be 36 holes and immediately follow the men’s individual stroke-play competition, which will remain at 72 holes like a regular PGA Tour event.
As for scheduling logistics, Scanlon plans to host this mixed event on the Sunday and Monday immediately after the men’s competition concludes. Unlike the previous three Olympics, the men’s tournament would begin one day earlier, on Wednesday, and wrap up on Saturday. The women’s competition would then begin on the following Wednesday, two days after the men’s competition wraps up.
The individual Olympic Committees of each nation would select the participants in the mixed event. For instance, if the Americans have four male and female athletes, Team USA could pick Scottie Scheffler and Nelly Korda to represent the Stars and Stripes. Only those qualified for the individual stroke play competitions would be eligible for the mixed event.
So, with that in mind, using those who competed in this year’s Olympics in Paris, let’s play a fun game and see who would play and win this hypothetical mixed event:
Hypothetical Olympic Mixed Teams:
United States: Scottie Scheffler, Nelly Korda
Ireland: Rory McIlroy, Leona Maguire
Spain: Jon Rahm, Carlota Ciganda
England: Tommy Fleetwood, Charley Hull
Sweden: Ludvig Åberg, Maja Stark
Norway: Viktor Hovland, Celine Borge
Mexico: Abraham Ancer, Gaby Lopez
Canada: Corey Conners, Brooke Henderson
Japan: Hideki Matsuyama, Yuka Saso
South Korea: Tom Kim, Jin Young Ko
Australia: Jason Day, Hannah Green
Germany: Stephan Jaeger, Esther Henseleit
Denmark: Nicolai Højgaard, Emily Kristine Pedersen
New Zealand: Ryan Fox, Lydia Ko
South Africa: Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Paula Reto
France: Matthieu Pavon, Celine Boutier
Although these teams would produce tremendous competition, one duo stands above all the others. Scheffler and Korda combined to win 16 times this year as both players dominated their respective tours en route to making history. Considering how well they have played, it would be impossible to pick against them.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Follow him on X @jack_milko.
