If golf had been part of the London Olympics, as it will be at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, only two countries would have sent more than two male players: the U.S. and the U.K. Under the scheme most likely to be in effect for Rio, all players in the top 15 of the world rankings are automatically eligible, with a limit of four top-15 players from any one country. Countries with two or fewer players in the top 15 can't send more than two. In the current rankings, only the U.S. with eight and the U.K. with five have more than two players in the top 15.

Come 2016, these criteria are bound to create controversy. The fields will be determined entirely by world rankings, going down the list one by one until each gender has 60 entrants. To get to that number, according to the rankings, players as low as No. 327 for the men (Mardan Mamat of Singapore) and 447 for the women (Paola Moreno of Colombia) would go to Rio. There will be no captain's picks or sponsor exemptions.

For the London Olympics, the hypothetical Team U.S.A. would have been:

Tiger Woods,
Webb Simpson,
Bubba Watson and
Jason Dufner.

Left out: Matt Kuchar, No. 9 in the world; Zach Johnson, Hunter Mahan and Steve Stricker, ranked Nos. 12 through 14; Phil Mickelson, No. 17.

For the U.K., the home team would have been:

Luke Donald,
Rory McIlroy,
Lee Westwood and
Justin Rose,

although world No. 3 McIlroy, from Northern Ireland, which is part of Great Britain, could have opted to play for Team Ireland. World No. 9 Graeme McDowell, also from Northern Ireland, would have had the same choice, possibly leaving the U.K. team with only three members. The third- and fourth highest-ranking golfers in Australia, No. 35 John Senden and No. 48 Geoff Ogilvy, wouldn't make the trip—just Adam Scott and Jason Day.

On the women's side, both the U.S., led by Stacy Lewis, and South Korea, led by Na Yeon Choi, would have had four eligible players. No other country would have more than two. Most would have just one.

With so few players per team, and given the fickleness of golf, there is unlikely to be a U.S. sweep of medals. Each gender will produce one gold, silver and bronze, determined by 72-hole stroke play on a course that has yet to be built. Another potential headache: rescheduling golf's majors, specifically the British Open and PGA Championship, so as not to interfere.