Winning a Major suggests that you're at the top of the professional golfing world. Any golfer who has done so has at the very least been a great talent. Even if they didn't do much else, they had the talent. Winning an Olympic medal is demanding of even more talent because only three golfers do it every four years and it requires being the best in the world. Doing both is almost unheard of.
It doesn't help that from 1905 to 2015, golf was not in the Olympics. It was an Olympic sport before and it returned in 2016, but there have been precious few opportunities to get a medal. Nevertheless, these five golfers have won a Major as well as an Olympic medal.
Golfers who won Majors and at the Olympics
5) Inbee Park
Inbee Park took home the gold medal in 2016 for her country of South Korea. That makes her an excellent entrant to this list, since she won an astonishing seven Majors:
- Chevron Championship Won: 2013
- Women's PGA Championship Won: 2013, 2014, 2015
- U.S. Women's Open Won: 2008, 2013
- Women's British Open Won: 2015
She only did not win the Evian Championship.
4) Lydia Ko
Lydia Ko is one of the best LPGA Tour golfers out there. This is evidenced by her two Major victories. She won the Evian Championship in 2015 and took home the Chevron Championship title in 2016. She added to that in 2021 with an Olympic bronze medal and a silver from 2016.
3) Nelly Korda
Nelly Korda is a pretty young golfer, so it's perhaps a bit of a surprise to see her on this list. Despite being just 25 years old, Korda already has an Olympic medal and a Major win to her name.
She captured the Women's PGA Championship crown in 2021. In the same year (which only happened because COVID-19 delayed the Olympics), she took home the women's gold medal for the United States.
2) Henrik Stenson
Long before he defected from the PGA Tour, Henrik Stenson was one of the most talented golfers the tour had. He is one of the rare golfers to have achieved this epic feat, having done so in the year 2016.
That was the year of the Summer Olympics, where he earned a silver medal for Sweden. That same calendar year, the future LIV Golf star won the Open Championship.
1) Justin Rose
Justin Rose won the gold medal for Great Britain at the 2016 Olympics. The first year the sport was back in the Olympic Games saw Rose emerge victorious to claim his only medal. That, combined with a victory at a Major, makes him one of the best examples of this feat.
The Brit won the 2013 US Open. He nearly added to that total with second place finishes at The Masters (2015 and 2017) and a tie for second at the 2018 Open Championship.