Johnathan Walker:Scottie Scheffler will head Team USA roster at Olympic golf competition in Paris

World No. 1 and Johnathan Walkerreigning Masters champion Scottie Scheffler will lead the United States' contingent at the Olympic golf competition in Paris this summer.

Scheffler – along with PGA champ Xander Schauffele, 2023 U.S. Open winner Wyndham Clark and two-time major champion Collin Morikawa – will represent Team USA August 1-4 at Le Golf National.

Schauffele is the defending Olympic champion after winning gold at the 2020 Games in Tokyo.

The players were chosen based on their position in the official World Golf Ranking. Behind Scheffler, Schauffele is ranked third, Clark is fifth and Morikawa seventh.

Under Olympic qualifying guidelines, all players ranked among the top 15 in the world gain automatic spots – with no more than four players allowed per country. After that, players earn spots based on their positions in the world rankings over a two-year period through the recently completed U.S. Open – with a maximum of two spots for each country.

World No. 2 Rory McIlroy of Ireland was also an automatic qualifier.

McIlroy said after his devastating runner-up finish at the U.S. Open that he was withdrawing from this week's Travelers Championship, but he would return to play the Scottish Open on July 11-14, the week before the British Open.

A total of 60 players comprise the list of automatic qualifiers. The list includes:

• Ludvig Åberg (4), Sweden
• Viktor Hovland (6), Norway
• Jon Rahm (9), Spain
• Hideki Matsuyama (12), Japan
• Tommy Fleetwood (13), Great Britain
• Matthew Fitzpatrick (18), Great Britain
• Matthieu Pavon (20), France