Days after winning a court ruling to allow him to play the men's golf event at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, Joost Luiten has been denied his chance to compete again.
Luiten, 38, finished 40th in qualifying for the tournament, within a cut of 60 who will enter next month's 72-over event at Le Golf National.
However, his hopes of participating were brutally dashed when the Dutch Olympic Committee ruled that he and his teammate Darius van Driel had “no reasonable chance” of bringing their country a medal and, therefore, could not be put forward to compete. .
Luiten took his appeal further, launching a legal challenge to the Dutch Olympic Committee last Tuesday. When that decision went in his favor, the six-time DP World Tour winner was reinstated to finish at the Games.
In a statement released at the time, the International Golf Federation (IGF) said it was “pleased to share that Luiten has been confirmed by the Dutch Olympic Committee and the Dutch Sports Federations to compete in the men's Olympic golf tournament.”
Sadly for Luiten, however, it didn't end there.
In a new twist, announced earlier today, the IGF was forced to remove Luiten from the field after he was reassigned before the outcome of his legal challenge was known.
In a statement, the IGF said: “When the IGF received notice of Joost Luiten's court decision in the Netherlands and his entry into the National Olympic Committee of the Netherlands, his unused place had already been reassigned following published IGF procedures. The IGF was not involved in the legal action brought by Luiten in the Netherlands.
“However, in an effort to support Luiten, the IGF sought an exception from the IOC to increase the size of the men's Olympic golf tournament field from 60 to 61 competitors to include Luiten, however the request was rejected by the IOC today.
“The IGF has advised Luiten of the IOC's decision, and he has not yet told the IGF that he intends to pursue this matter.”
It's not uncommon for individual countries to block Olympic-eligible athletes on the grounds that they don't think they'll be at the top of their game, but given that Luiten is far from an outsider, it looks like it's hard to deny the two-time Dutch Open champion a chance to compete. the first and last time to represent his country at this level.
To check the full list of entries for the men's golf event in Paris, click here.
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