First two Canadian athletes named to Paris 2024 golf team

TORONTO (June 17, 2024) – Golf Canada and the Canadian Olympic Committee have announced Team Canada men’s golf athletes nominated to compete at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The women’s golf athletes will be announced at a later date. The two male athletes are:

Corey Conners (Listowel, Ont.)
Nick Taylor (Abbottsford, B.C.)

The two athletes qualified for Team Canada based on their standing on the Official World Golf Rankings at the close of the Olympic qualification period following the completion of the US Open on Sunday, June 16, 2024.  At the close of the Paris 2024 men’s qualification period, Taylor sits 35th on the Official Golf World Ranking and Conners is 37th.

The two-year Olympic qualification period for men’s golf featured an exciting competition among Canada’s top-ranked male golfers, which ramped up in recent weeks and came down to the wire as the athletes worked to earn their spot on Team Canada through their respective results on the PGA TOUR and other global golf competitions.

Taylor will make his Olympic debut at Paris 2024. The 36-year-old is a four-time winner on the PGA TOUR, including a historic win at the 2023 RBC Canadian Open to become the first Canadian in nearly 70 years to capture Canada’s National Men’s Open Championship. With that win, he became the only Canadian male golfer to win the Canadian Junior (2006), Canadian Amateur (2007) and Canadian Open (2023) Championships. Taylor is a graduate of Golf Canada’s National Team Program, and has represented Canada at the World Amateur Team Championship (2008) and World Cup (2018). Taylor’s 2024 season includes three top-10 finishes, highlighted by a victory at the 2024 WM Phoenix Open to lock in his Olympic spot.

“The opportunity to represent my country at the Olympics has been a huge goal of mine for many years,” said Taylor. “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.”

Conners will make his second Olympic appearance after finishing 13th at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. A T9 finish at the US Open this past weekend helped vault the 32-year-old up nine positions on the Official World Golf Ranking to secure his spot at Paris 2024. He is a two-time PGA TOUR winner (2019 and 2023 Valero Texas Open) who has earned nine top-25 results this season including a solo sixth place finish at the 2024 RBC Canadian Open. Also a graduate of Golf Canada’s National Team Program and past member of the Presidents Cup International Team (2022), Conners has represented Canada on numerous occasions, including the World Amateur Team Championship in 2012 and 2014.  

“It is going to be a huge honour to represent Canada alongside all the other athletes,” said Conners. “It was a big goal of mine to make the team again this year and I can’t wait to get to Paris.” 

Taylor and Conners will look to become the first Canadian to win an Olympic golf medal since George Lyon’s gold medal at St. Louis 1904. Canada’s best finishes in men’s golf since the sport returned to the Olympics in 2016 were a 13th place finish for Conners (Tokyo 2020) and a 20th place finish for Graham DeLaet (Rio 2016). 

Golf Canada’s Director of High Performance Emily Phoenix praised the athletes for their determination through the qualification period to see their Olympic dreams become a reality.

“Nick and Corey, along with all of the Canadian players have shown a great deal of perseverance throughout the qualification period which shows how much representing Canada at the Olympics means to the athletes. The depth of Canadian talent right now in the professional game is significant and we look forward to sending a strong team to represent Canada in Paris.”

The men’s golf tournament at Paris 2024 will take place August 1 – August 4 (Days 6 – 9) at Le Golf National.

‘’Congratulations to our two Team Canada golfers who are perfectly in the swing for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games! Thanks to their meticulous preparation, these athletes are attacking challenges with impressive drive. Their patience, technical mastery, and calm under pressure place them at the pinnacle of their performance. They demonstrate that hard work and passion lead to the realization of our dreams,‘’ said Bruny Surin, Team Canada’s Paris 2024 Chef de Mission.

Team Canada’s men’s golf team for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games also includes the following caddies and support staff:

Caddies & Support Staff
Emily Phoenix (Calgary, Alta.) – Team Leader
David Markle (Shelburne, Ont.) – Caddie for Nick Taylor
Danny Sahl (Sherwood, Alta.) – Caddie for Corey Conners  

The qualification period for selecting Team Canada’s two female athletes for the Paris 2024 Olympic golf competition ends on Sunday, June 23. 

Prior to being named to Team Canada, all nominations are subject to approval by the Canadian Olympic Committee’s Team Selection Committee following its receipt of nominations by all National Sport Organizations.

The latest Team Canada Paris 2024 roster can be found here.

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MEDIA CONTACTS:

Dan Pino, Senior Director, Communications
Golf Canada Canada
C: 416-434-5525
E: dpino@golfcanada.ca

Tara MacBournie, Program Manager, Sport Communications
Canadian Olympic Committee
C: 647-522-8328
E: tmacbournie@olympic.ca