Two years from now, Riviera Country Club will play host to the golf events for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.
The Games will feature men’s and women’s individual stroke play, as well as a new mixed team event that will pull from the field of athletes qualified for the individual events.
Although two years seems like a long time, Olympic qualifying is already underway. In total, there will be 60 men and 60 women competing in LA. The mixed team event will feature 16 teams of two athletes each.
Qualifying is based on the men’s and women’s official world golf rankings, with a maximum of four athletes per country if ranked in the top 15 and a maximum of two athletes per country outside of the top 15.
For Team USA, there are quite a few contenders. As things stand, the men would qualify the maximum of four athletes; the women would qualify two athletes. With both world No. 1s being from the U.S., the host country is also likely to qualify a mixed team.
Here’s a look at the six players currently leading Olympic qualifying for the U.S.
Scottie Scheffler
The reigning men’s Olympic gold medalist and world No. 1, Scheffler is positioned the best of any athlete in the world right now to qualify to LA. That’s thanks in large part to the dominant lead he has in the men’s Official World Golf Ranking, with more than 6.5 points over No. 2 Rory McIlroy. Scheffler has held that No. 1 spot without interruption since May 2023. Despite being in a relative slump (for him), the 30-year-old would need to miss multiple cuts and see someone like McIlroy go on a winning streak for him to be usurped anytime soon.
Riviera rundown: Scheffler and the rest of the men on this list are very familiar with Riviera, seeing as they play it annually for The Genesis Invitational (except for 2025). While he hasn’t won there yet, Scheffler has an excellent track record at the course since 2020 — never finishing outside of the top 30. His past four starts at Riviera? T-7 in 2022, T-12 in 2023, T-10 in 2024 and T-12 in 2026. So, yes, there’s definitely a chance Scheffler could go back-to-back in LA.
Nelly Korda
The Tokyo Olympic gold medalist and world No. 1, Korda doesn’t have as commanding of a lead in the world rankings as Scheffler, but she’s still playing outstanding golf. That much is clear after she won the first two women’s majors of the season at the Chevron and U.S. Women’s Open. Lucky for Korda, that U.S. Women’s Open was held at none other than Riviera Country Club. So not only did she win her fourth major title, but she also got a bit of an Olympic test event under her belt — and clearly passed with flying colors.
Riviera rundown: The women do not play Riviera annually, but if Korda’s triumph in June was any indication, she could be on her way to another Olympic gold.
Cameron Young
While Scheffler has a dominant lead in the men’s qualifying, the rest of the U.S. qualifiers are likely to come down to the wire since the country is so dominant in the sport. Young, the current world No. 4, won his first PGA Tour title, after a long and much publicized wait, in August 2025. Since then, he’s won The Players and Cadillac Championship. He also made his Ryder Cup debut last fall at Bethpage Black and was one of the United States’ top scorers with a 3-1-0 record.
Riviera rundown: Young’s best finish at Riviera came in his first start at the Genesis in 2022 — a T-2 result. Since then he’s recorded a T-20, T-16 and, most recently, a T-7.
Russell Henley
Current world No. 5 Henley is one of the most consistent players on Tour. He has one win so far in 2026, coming at the Charles Schwab Challenge in May.
Riviera rundown: Henley hasn’t fared the best at Riviera, especially in recent years. While his top finish came in 2020 with a T-17, he has missed the cut in two of his past three appearances at the course.
Chris Gotterup
One of the hottest players on the PGA Tour right now, Gotterup has three wins so far in 2026, with his most recent coming at the John Deere Classic two weeks ago. This week, he jumped Collin Morikawa to currently sit sixth in the world ranking.
Riviera rundown: Gotterup, who turned pro in 2022, made his first start at The Genesis Invitational in February and was cut after rounds of 71 and 74.
Lauren Coughlin
World No. 21 Lauren Coughlin is the only other American woman on the Olympic qualifying list right now. The 33-year-old joined the LPGA Tour in 2018 and has three career wins, with the most recent coming at the Aramco Championship in April.
Riviera rundown: Coughlin, similar to Korda, performed very well at Riviera when the course hosted this year’s U.S. Women’s Open in June. She finished T-14. At one point she was T-9 at 2 under, but a 75 during the third round derailed her chances down the stretch.
