2024 Paris Olympics Golf Betting Odds, Picks: Can McIlroy Get Gold?
The PGA Tour is on a rare break this week because of the men’s golf competition at the Paris Olympics with American Scottie Scheffler favoured on the golf odds to win the gold medal.
It’s the fifth time that men’s golf will be contested at the Olympics and third straight Games. England’s Justin Rose won gold in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and American Xander Schauffele did three years ago in Tokyo. Olympic golf works just like a typical stroke-play event as it will be played over 72 holes Thursday through Sunday. The golfer with the lowest score wins gold and the second- and third-place finishers earn silver and bronze. In the event of ties for any of the places, there will be a playoff as only three total medals will be awarded.
There are 60 players in the field – including seven players from LIV Golf – from a total of 32 countries. The Top 15 players in the world were automatically eligible, with a limit of four players from any given country. The rest of the field came from the official International Golf Federation world ranking list as of June 17 with a maximum of two eligible players from each country that didn’t already have two or more players in the Top 15. France was guaranteed at least one spot as the host country.
Because the field is so limited, a lot of big-name guys didn’t qualify. American Bryson DeChambeau, a LIV guy, won this year’s U.S. Open but didn’t make it because LIV guys only get world ranking points in the majors. The American contingent is world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, Schauffele, Collin Morikawa and Wyndham Clark. Only Schauffele has competed in the Olympics previously.
Team Canada features Corey Conners and Nick Taylor. Conners finished 13th at the Tokyo 2020 Games, while Taylor makes his Olympic debut. The lone Canadian to medal in Olympic golf was George Lyon winning gold in 1904 in St. Louis. Golf then disappeared from the Olympics until 2016.
The Albatros Course at Le Golf National, located about 25 miles southwest of downtown Paris in the town of Guyancourt, is the host and a par 71 at approximately 7,175 yards. The track has hosted the DP World Tour’s French Open since 1991 (other than 1999 and 2001) and was site of the 2018 Ryder Cup, where the European team crushed Team USA by a score of 17½-10½. None of the four players representing the United States this week were members of that team. Albatros has links-style bunkers and very slick greens. Since 2010, the Open de France winning score has averaged roughly 10 under.
Among other benefits, gold medalists receive exemptions into all PGA Tour major championships during the 2025 season.
Olympic Golf Odds
American and world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is the +450 favourite and leads the Tour by far with six wins this year – last the Travelers Championship after the U.S. Open. Scheffler has only played once since then as he and his wife tend to their newborn and that was a T7 at the British Open.
It was assumed that Scheffler would win PGA Tour Player of the Year, but that’s hardly a sure thing now with fellow American Xander Schauffele (+550) having won the PGA Championship and British Open.
Schauffele also won gold at the 2020/21 Tokyo Games as we noted. Ireland’s Rory McIlroy (+850), the USA’s Colin Morikawa (+1100), Spain’s Jon Rahm (+1100) and Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg (+1100) round out the favorites.
Since 2008, McIlroy has competed in three French Opens at Le Golf National, as well as the Ryder Cup. He’s having a solid year overall but likely disappointing for him with no major titles yet again. McIlroy was part of the seven-man playoff for a bronze medal in Tokyo three years ago (he didn’t get it). Morikawa is also having a strong year despite not winning yet. He hasn’t finished outside the Top 20 at a non-team event since the week before the Masters. Like McIlroy, Rahm was part of that victorious 2018 Ryder Cup team on this same course. Aberg comes off a disappointing missed cut at the British Open.
Canada’s Corey Conners is +4000 and Nick Taylor +12500. Conners has played 20 PGA Tour events this year and not missed a cut. He’s off a T25 at the British Open. Taylor won earlier this year at the Phoenix Open but has not played well since May with four missed cuts and zero Top 10s.
Olympic Golf Predictions
Rory McIlroy (+1100) wins gold as he knows this course as well as anyone.