Dutch golfer Joost Luiten has ultimately been denied a spot in the Men's Golf competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics — the latest twist after what appeared to be a successful lawsuit against the Netherlands Golf Federation (NGF).

Luiten — a six-time DP World Tour champion with 21 major appearances — was one of four Dutch golfers to meet the criteria set by International Olympic Committee (IOC) to gain inclusion into the 60-person field. Darius Van Driel, Anne van Dam and Dewi Weber qualified, as well.

However, the NGF — as they've done in past Olympic cycles — independently restricted Luiten, Van Driel, and Weber from representing their country, citing their presumed unlikeliness to contend for a medal.

“They basically said, ‘No we’re not sending you, we don’t think you’re good enough,'” Luiten told The Athletic. “That’s basically all I got back from them.”

Luiten tied for 27th at the 2016 Rio Games and reached as high as no. 28 in the world in 2014. He's currently ranked no. 40 in the International Golf Federation (IGF) rankings — the system that determines Olympics eligiblity — which is less skewed towards PGA Tour results.

The Dutch committee requires golfers who sit outside the top 27 in the IGF to card a top-four finish in a tournament or a top-eight result in a field with five players from the top 50 in the world or 10 from the top 100. (The Official World Golf Ranking is heavily skewed toward the PGA Tour.)

Van Driel — who won the Magical Kenya Open in February, a field exclusively comprised of top 1oo players — is ranked 27th by the IGF system. On the women's side, van Dam sits no. 108 in the OWGR and 34th in the IGF. Weber is 302nd and 58th, respectively.

Last week, a Dutch judge sided with Luiten and ordered the NGF to immediately submit him as a representative before the July 2 deadline. The 38-year-old celebrated the decision on Instagram.

But, as Luiten's status was in limbo, his spot was given to Finland's Tapio Pulkkanen. On Tuesday, the IGF opted against expanding the field to give the Dutchmen a spot.

“The IGF was not a party to the legal action brought forth by Luiten in the Netherlands,” the federation wrote in a statement. “Nevertheless, in an effort to support Luiten, the IGF sought an exception from the IOC to increase the field size of the men's Olympic golf competition from 60 to 61 competitors to include Luiten, however the request was denied by the IOC today.

“The IGF has advised Luiten of the IOC's decision, and he has not informed the IGF whether he intends to pursue this matter further.”

In 2020, the Dutch committee kept players outside the top 100 in the rankings from teeing off in Tokyo. At those Olympics (played in 2021), Rory Sabbatini — then ranked no. 161 — took home the silver medal for Slovakia. Taiwan's C.T. Pan, then-ranked No. 181, won a seven-man playoff for bronze that included Rory McIlroy and Collin Morikawa.

“Golf is a strange game. Anybody can win. If I have a good week and a little bit of luck … you can go home with a gold medal,” Luiten said to the Athletic. “That’s how crazy this game is.”

The 72-hole Men's Olympic golf competition will take place at Le Golf National, near Versailles, from Aug. 1-4. The women will compete Aug. 7-10.