Former Illini standout, Thomas Pieters, has been named to the field for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Pieters is one of two players to represent Belgium, and he is the only Illini in the field.
Golf makes its return to the Olympic Games in 2016 after only being a part of the 1900 Olympic games in Paris, France and the 1904 games in St. Louis, Missouri. The men's tournament is set to begin on August 11 at Olympic Golf Course. The course was developed in Rio for the Olympic Games using local, native vegetation as part of an environmental recovery project. Take a virtual tour of the course here.
The 2016 Olympic field is limited to 60 players, selected based on their standing in the Official World Golf Ranking. The top 15 players are eligible, although no country may have more than four players. The remainder of the field is comprised of no more than two players per country, if not in the top 15.
A two-time All-American at Illinois, Pieters was the 2012 NCAA Individual Champion and also earned Big Ten Player of the Year honors in 2013. Pieters took medalist honors at the 2013 Big Ten Championship, and holds the fifth-lowest career stroke average in Illinois men's golf history.
Pieters is also making his first appearance at The Open Championship this week. He is set to tee off at 8:59 a.m. CT in Thursday's opening round. The Open is set to take place at Royal Troon GC in Ayrshire, Scotland, and former Illini Steve Stricker is also among tournament competitors. Follow along with The Open here.
2016 Men's Olympic Field
1 -- Bubba Watson, USA
2 -- Henrik Stenson, SWE
3 -- Rickie Fowler, USA
4 -- Danny Willett, GBR
5 -- Justin Rose, GBR
6 -- Sergio Garcia, ESP
7 -- Patrick Reed, USA
8 -- Matt Kuchar, USA
9 -- Rafa Cabrera Bello, ESP
10 -- Byeong Hun An, KOR
11 -- Thongchai Jaidee, THA
12 -- Danny Lee, NZL
13 -- Emiliano Grillo, ARG
14 -- David Lingmerth, SWE
15 -- Soren Kjeldsen, DEN
16 -- Bernd Wiesberger, AUT
17 -- Martin Kaymer, GER
18 -- Kiradech Aphibarnrat, THA
19 -- Francesco Molinari, ITA
20 -- Anirban Lahiri, IND
21 -- Thorbjorn Olesen, DEN
22 -- Joost Luiten, NED
23 -- Thomas Pieters, BEL
24 -- Jaco Van Zyl, RSA
25 -- Fabian Gomez, ARG
26 -- Jeunghun Wang, KOR
27 -- Scott Hend, AUS
28 -- Marcus Fraser, AUS
29 -- Brandon Stone, RSA
30 -- Yuta Ikeda, JPN
31 -- Shingo Katayama, JPN
32 -- Gregory Bourdy, FRA
33 -- Julien Quesne, FRA
34 -- Nicolas Colsaerts, BEL
35 -- Ricardo Gouveia, POR
36 -- David Hearn, CAN
37 -- Wu Ashun, CHN
38 -- Miguel Tabuena, PHI
39 -- Hao Tong Li, CHN
40 -- Alex Cejka, GER
41 -- Graham DeLaet, CAN
42 -- Fabrizio Zanotti, PAR
43 -- Padraig Harrington, IRL
44 -- Ryan Fox, NZL
45 -- SSP Chawrasia, IND
46 -- Danny Chia, MAS
47 -- Mikko Ilonen, FIN
48 -- Jhonattan Vegas, VEN
49 -- Felipe Aguilar, CHI
50 -- Cheng Tsung Pan, TPE
51 -- Adilson da Silva, BRA
52 -- Seamus Power, IRL
53 -- Espen Kofstad, NOR
54 -- Roope Kakko, FIN
55 -- Nino Bertasio, ITA
56 -- Siddikur Rahman, BAN
57 -- Camilo Villegas, COL
58 -- Wen-Tang Lin, TPE
59 -- Angelo Que, PHI
60 -- Gavin Kyle Green, MAS
