Joost Luiten has emerged from relative anonymity to Golf Twitter darling in the run-up to the 2024 Summer Olympics. The Dutch golfer has been denied entry to the Olympics despite winning a court case regarding his eligibility. Luiten spoke on the incident after missing the cut at the Open Championship this weekend. Despite being the first alternate for the tournament, he has made poolside plans for Olympic week.

“I don’t know what I’d do if I get the call but right now I’m happy not to play. I’m quite done with it. I’ll be quite happy when I’m in Mallorca and I’m in the pool.” Luiten said after his Friday round at the Open Championship, per Golf Week.

I can't imagine there are too many guys headed to Paris who are not jealous of that plan. After fighting the uphill battle to gain eligibility ahead of the Olympics, Luiten is going to decompress in one of the most beautiful places in the world. Before he laid out his August plans, he shared how he felt he was treated by the International Golf Federation (IGF) in the eligibility process.

“I’m the one who is out. I’m the one who is f**ked,” said Luiten. “I’m over it now. I spent a lot of money on a court case to win it and then you win it and then they say, f**k it, you’re still not in because someone else f**ked up. That’s the annoying thing.”

Joost Luiten's case to play in the Olympics

Joost Luiten plays on the fourth hole during the second round of The Open Championship golf tournament at Royal Liverpool.
Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Joost Luiten earned his spot in the Olympics by being one of the top 2 players from the Netherlands in the Olympic Golf Rankings. He earned that spot by finishing in the top 15 five times on the DP World Tour this season. The Netherlands Golf Federation requires players ranked outside of the IGF's top 27 to post a top-4 finish in a tournament to play in the Olympics. Players also could have finished top 8 in a tournament with 5 top-50 or 10 top-100 players in the field.

Luiten did not meet those qualifications. The Netherlands ruled three of their four golfers, Luiten and female competitors Anne van Dam and Dewi Weber, ineligible based on this rule. Luiten winning the court case reversed this decision, but the IGF had already filled his spot.

The Olympic Golf competition has had players from non-traditional golf countries take home medals for their homelands. The 2020 Olympic Golf tournament saw Rory Sabatini, playing for Slovakia, and C.T. Pan from China take home medals over household names like Rory McIlroy, Colin Morikawa, and Justin Thomas. The Netherlands has never had a golfer win a major championship. A great place for them to start is with an Olympic medal. But instead, they have left a sour taste in every golf fan's mouth.

America's chances at the Olympics

Looking ahead to the Olympics, Team USA is looking to grab their second straight gold medal after Xander Schauffele's triumph in 2021. Scottie Scheffler and Wyndham Clark join Morikawa and Schauffele on Team USA for the men's competition. Clark is not entering the games in the greatest form, missing the cut at this week's Open Championship. The other three competitors, however, present great chances at a gold medal. America is bringing three top-10 players to the women's competition. World No. 1 Nelly Korda, No. 2 Lilia Vu, and No. 9 Rose Zhang will represent the US. Don't be surprised if the United States slays the demons from the 2018 Ryder Cup at Le Golf National and sweeps the golf competitions at the 2024 Paris Olympics.