Jordan Spieth has set his sights on representing Team USA at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles after seeing the success of Scottie Scheffler in Paris last week.
Spieth's Ryder Cup teammate Scheffler won gold for the United States last weekend, carding a superb nine-under-par 62 in the final round at Le Golf National to top the podium. It proved to be a week of success for the men's golf event at the Games, with the Olympics struggling to stake its claim at the top of the sport in recent years.
After over 100 years away, golf returned to the Olympic stage in Rio De Janeiro in 2016, but the event was cast aside by many big names including the likes of Spieth and Rory McIlroy.
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Many stated the spread of the Zika virus as the reason behind their withdrawal, resulting in a weakened field upon golf's Olympic return. Five years later the importance of the Olympic event within men's professional golf was again questioned, as whilst a stronger field took part, the COVID-19 pandemic saw the event played behind closed doors.
This summer's event in the French capital proved to be the perfect opportunity for the Olympic tournament to stake its claim at the top of the sport and went some way to doing so following a successful week. A stacked leading group led to an enthralling final round in Paris, with Scheffler seeing off the likes of Tommy Fleetwood, Hideki Matsuyama, and Jon Rahm.
The leaderboard was one that would not look out of place at a major championship, and after Scheffler shared his emotions when collecting gold under the U.S. flag, it was clear Olympic golf was here to stay. Spieth watched on from home having failed to qualify for the event.
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But with the Games heading to US soil in LA in 2028, the former world No. 1 has put becoming an Olympian towards the top of his goal list. "The idea of playing in the Olympics at Riviera when it was announced, it became from a high goal to a top goal," he said at the Wyndham Championship this week.
Not only is representing his nation on the Olympic stage a target of his, but Spieth is also keen to get back to competing among the best players in the world. "What [making the Olympics] means is you've got to be top six or seven in the world, so you've got to play great, consistent golf over an extended period of time," he added.
"So the goal of making that team really, that's great but what it means is you're winning golf tournaments, you're playing well consistently and that's ultimately the goal is being consistently one of the best players because you put yourself in position. That's the fun thing about what we do is having a chance on Sunday. So I'd like to get back to starting to have a chance on Sundays more and then see where that takes me."
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