Joost Luiten has won a lawsuit against Netherlands Golf Federation (NGF), opening a pathway for the Dutchman to participate in the men's competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Last week, the AP reported that Dutch Olympic officials were holding back three golfers from joining the 60-person fields at the Summer Games, citing their relatively low world rankings. In June, the NGF argued to the committee overseeing the Dutch Olympic representation that expecting a top-eight finish out of the candidates was unreasonable.

The committee kept players outside the top-100 in the rankings from competing in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. At those Games (played in 2021 due to the pandemic), Rory Sabbatini — then ranked no. 161, representing Slovakia — took home the silver medal. Taiwan's C.T. Pan, then-ranked No. 181, emerged from a seven-man playoff that included Rory McIlroy and Collin Morikawa with bronze.

After finishing T27 at the Rio Games in 2016, Luiten sued for the right to compete again. His case was ultimately presented Tuesday in Arnhem. On Tuesday, a judge ruled in favor of Luiten, per Sports Illustrated, ordering the Dutch committee to register Luiten immediately or pay a fine. Luiten took to social media to celebrate the ruling.

 

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Luiten, 38, is a six-time winner on the DP World Tour. He's currently ranked no. 151 in the Official World Golf Ranking and 40th in the International Golf Federation ranking, by which the Olympics adheres. He's played in 21 majors, including two Masters and a T21 at the 2012 PGA Championship. In 2014, he reached no. 28 in the world.

This past January, Luiten tied for 14th in the Dubai Invitational, which Tommy Fleetwood won by one stroke over McIlroy.

The criteria by the Dutch committee requires golfers who sit outside the top 27 in the IGF to have 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. However, the OWGR is heavily skewed toward the PGA Tour.

It's unclear how the judge's ruling on Luiten will impact his peers. Darius Van Driel is ranked no. 237 in the world and no. 49 in the IGF. Van Driel won the Magical Kenya Open in February — a field of all top-1oo players. On the women's side, Anne Van Dam is ranked 108th in the world and 34th in the IGF, respectively. Dewi Weber is 302nd and 58th.

The selection for the United States Olympic men's golf team garnered its own controversy (the women — less so). U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau was omitted from Team USA's four-man cohort — a consequence of LIV Golf results still being unrecognized by the OWGR and its affiliated rankings.

World no. 1 Scottie Scheffler, 2024 PGA Championship winner Xander Schauffele, and two-time major champ Collin Morikawa — all top-five golfers having strong campaigns — will head to Paris, along with 2023 U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark.

Clark is ranked no. 4 in the world thanks to strong results on the PGA Tour through March, but he's slipped to 28th on DataGolf's more holistic metric (DeChambeau is sixth.)

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