Byeong Hun An explains why it is 'impossible' to change Olympic golf

Byeong Hun An recently shared his reasons why having changes in Olympic golf was impossible. Golf returned to the Olympics in 2016 after being absent since 1904, and so far, only men’s and women’s individual events have taken place in the prestigious games.

However, recently, the International Golf Federation's Anthony Scanlon opened up about potential changes to the Olympic golf format, reflecting on the idea of introducing a mixed-team event.

Recently, Byeong Hun An took to his X (formerly Twitter) account to share his opinion on the proposed changes. In his post, the South Korean golfer reflected that changes to Olympic golf are "impossible" because of its format, as the tournament usually takes place for four days. He wrote:

"I’ve seen lots of people talk about changing the format in Olympic golf. (different format than stroke play, having team medal, mixed events etc). It’s almost impossible to do that. Olympic committee will not give out two medals in one game, in golf that would be 4 day stroke play event. For example, other sports like judo or table tennis, they have to play individual and team events separately.

Hun An further elaborated that it would be difficult for the players to "play at least 8 or more rounds" of golf if a mixed-team event were also introduced.

"Golf has to be played at least 3-4 rounds that means if we wanted to have couple different formats, we have to play at least 8 or more rounds. I don’t see many players would give up few weeks during the summer. Maybe we might need to have more than 4-6 players on the teams so they can pick and choose which format they want to play in," he added.

Byeong Hun An competed at the 2024 Olympics, shooting rounds of 72, 68, 66, and 72 to finish in a T24 position.

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IGF Director talks about the potential changes in Olympic Golf

International Golf Federation Executive Director Anthony Scanlon opened up about the potential changes to Olympic golf earlier this month. He talked about introducing a mixed-field golf event in the Olympic Games. He highlighted the success of the Grant Thornton Invitational, a mixed-field event featuring PGA Tour and LPGA Tour players. He said (via SI):

“There was about 23 events at the Olympic Games in Paris that were mixed teams events. There's great, great enthusiasm amongst our players to do that event at the games to add to the success that we've had with the individual events of the men and the women. And with an event such as the Grant Thornton [Invitational] ... it's another opportunity for our athletes to display their skills together ... and to win another medal.”

Notably, golf became part of the Olympics in 1900 and was held again in 1904. However, it was later canceled and finally returned in 2016.