Cal Golf: Collin Morikawa Clinches a Spot in the Field at the Tokyo Olympics

His fourth-place finish at the U.S. Open lifts him to No. 3 in the Olympic qualifying rankings.

Collin Morikawa didn’t win his second major golf title Sunday, but his tie for fourth place at the U.S. Open has locked up a spot on the U.S. Olympic team.

Morikawa, who recently expressed his great enthusiasm for potentially playing at the Tokyo Games, climbed to No. 3 worldwide on the final Olympic Golf Rankings used to determined spots in the Olympic field.

Collin Morikawa at the U.S. Open.

Photo y Michael Madrid, USA Today

The top four Americans are expected to earn places on the team and Morikawa is second among U.S. players, behind Justin Thomas. Dustin Johnson is not part of the equation because he has publicly stated he will not take part in the Olympic tournament.

The next two Americans are Xander Schauffele and Bryson DeChambeau, who are Nos. 4 and 5 overall in the rankings.

Jon Rahm of Spain, the winner at the U.S. Open, climbed to No. 1 overall.

Morikawa, a 2019 graduate of Cal, has moved up to No. 8 on the 2021 official money leaders list with $4,880,768. He won just under a half million dollars for his share of fourth place at the U.S. Open. Morikawa is also now No. 8 in the FedEx Cup standings, sixth among Americans.

Morikawa tweeted Sunday evening that he plans to take a couple weeks off before heading to Europe. He is expected to make his British Open debut July 15-18 at Royal St. George’s Golf Club in Kent, England.

Because of the suspension of play in the sport during the COVID-19 pandemic, officials adjusted the Olympic qualification period, allowing players to accumulate points at tournaments beginning in July 2018 through June 21 of this year, which was Sunday.

Sixty players will participate each in the men’s and women’s tournaments, with no more than four from any country.

Official invitations have not been announced but Monday’s updated rankings provide a clear picture of who will play in Tokyo. Here they are:

Official World Golf Rankings

This will be golf’s second time back in the Olympics following its return to the program at the 2016 Rio Games. The sport was contested at both the 1900 and 1904 Olympics, then eliminated for 112 years.

Great Britain’s Justin Rose won the gold medal at Rio, but neither he nor silver medalist Henrik Stenson of Sweden or Matt Kuchar of the U.S. will qualify to play in Tokyo. All three needed big performances at the U.S. Open to climb the rankings and none of them made the cut at Torrey Pines.

The tournament next month is a 72-hole individual stroke play format over four days, with the men’s competition scheduled for July 29 through August 1.

The men’s and women’s Olympic tournaments will be played on the Kasumigaseki Country Club, a private course in Saitama. Founded in 1929, the club has hosted several professional events, including Japan’s first-ever Golf World Cup in 1957.

Cover photo of Collin Morikawa by Orlando Ramirez, USA Today

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo