Nick Taylor and Corey Conners named to Canadian golf team for Paris 2024
The duo will compete in men's golf, with the women's team to be finalized next week.
Corey Conners and Nick Taylor were named to Team Canada’s golf team for the Paris 2024 Olympics on Monday, following the completion of the Olympic qualification period.
At the end of the Paris 2024 men’s qualification period, Taylor is 35th on the Official Golf World Ranking and Conners is 37th. The positions were finalized after the final round of the US Open on Sunday, which was won by American golfer Bryson DeChambeau.
Conners needed to tie for 11th or better at the US Open to represent Canada in Paris. He stepped up, finishing tied for ninth — booking his Olympic ticket and taking home $502,391 in prize money in the process. He has represented Canada at the Olympics before, finishing 13th at Tokyo 2020.
Conners is a two-time PGA TOUR winner, at the 2019 and 2023 Valero Texas Open, and has earned nine top-25 results this season including a sixth place finish at the 2024 RBC Canadian Open.
“It is going to be a huge honour to represent Canada alongside all the other athletes,” said Conners in a press release. “It was a big goal of mine to make the team again this year and I can’t wait to get to Paris.”
Taylor will make his Olympic debut at Paris 2024.
The 36-year-old has won four events on the PGA TOUR, including a historic victory at the 2023 RBC Canadian Open. Competing at the Oakdale Golf and Country Club in Toronto, Taylor become the first Canadian man in 69 years to capture that crown, doing so with a remarkable 72-foot putt.
With that win, he became the only Canadian male golfer to win the Canadian Junior (2006), Canadian Amateur (2007) and Canadian Open (2023) Championships. In the 2024 season, Taylor has earned three top-10 finishes, including a victory at the 2024 WM Phoenix Open to book his ticket to the Olympics.
“The opportunity to represent my country at the Olympics has been a huge goal of mine for many years,” said Taylor in a press release. “To see the news become official today is quite humbling and surreal. I’m excited to get to Paris to compete, proudly wear the Maple Leaf, and soak in what I know will be an incredible experience.”
It has been 120 years since a Canadian won an Olympic golf medal. George Lyon won the gold medal at St. Louis 1904, before the sport spent over a century off the Olympic programme. The sport returned for Rio 2016, where Graham DeLaet was Canada’s best men’s finisher in 20th place. Four years later, Conners competed in Tokyo, where he finished 13th.
The men’s golf tournament at Paris 2024 will take place from August 1-4 at Le Golf National.
The qualification period for selecting Team Canada’s two female athletes for the Paris 2024 Olympic golf competition ends on Sunday, June 23, after the KPMG Women's PGA Championship.
Thank you for reading this post on True North. To be the first person to read future posts, and listen to new podcast episodes, subscribe for free using the button below, or share the article with someone you know.