Joost Luiten hits a shot from the fourth tee during the first round of the British Open golf tournament at Royal Liverpool, Hoylake, England, July 20, 2023. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada – USA Today Sports Dutch golfer Joost Reuten took his country's Olympic Committee to court and won, but his efforts did not earn him a place in Paris.
The Netherlands did not allow Luiten and two other golfers – Darius van Driel and Devi Weber – to represent the country at the Olympics despite them having qualified.
Luyten took his case to a Dutch court and a judge ruled in his favour, but the International Golf Federation said on Tuesday that Luyten's “unused playing slots” had already been reallocated and he could not be added to the field.
“The IGF was not a party to the proceedings brought by Luyten in the Netherlands,” the statement said. “However, in support of Luyten, the IGF asked the IOC to make an exception and increase the field size in the men's Olympic golf event from 60 to 61, including Luyten, but that request was denied by the IOC today.”
“The IGF has informed Mr Luyten of the IOC's decision, but Mr Luyten has not informed the IGF whether he intends to pursue the matter further.”
Although Luiten, van Driel and Weber were all ranked high enough in their respective world rankings to qualify for the Olympics, they did not meet additional national requirements set by the Dutch Olympic Committee and Dutch Sports Confederation (NOC*NSF) – essentially, the Dutch governing body argued that they were unlikely to finish in the top eight at the Olympic Games.
The 38-year-old Luiten was ranked 147th in the world and 40th in the Olympic rankings when the field was announced. He has won six times on the DP World Tour but has not won since 2018.
–Field Level Media
