The Olympic men’s golf competition begins Thursday at Le Golf National in Paris.
The 72-hole, stroke-play tournament will feature 60 players, including four Americans – Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa and Wyndham Clark. None of the U.S. players have logged a tournament round at Le Golf National, though there are several players who have experience via the DP World Tour’s French Open, including past champions Tommy Fleetwood (England), Alex Noren (Sweden) and Guido Migliozzi (Italy). Five European Ryder Cuppers from 2018 – Fleetwood, Noren, Rory McIlroy (Ireland), Jon Rahm (Spain) and Thorbjorn Olesen (Denmark) – are in this Olympic field.
Le Golf National is far from a bomber’s paradise, demanding precision off the tee with punishing rough and plenty of water, so it’s no surprise that Scheffler, Schauffele and Morikawa account for three of the five lowest odds to win.
Here is a power ranking of the top 25 players teeing it up in hopes of winning gold in Paris:
25. Thorbjorn Olesen, Denmark: Was T-3 at Le Golf National in 2017 and has gone T-20, T-10 the last two years. But this is purely a course-history play as Olesen hasn’t posted a top-10 since winning the Ras Al Khaimah Championship in January – and it’s been the ball-striking that’s caused him issue.
24. Abraham Ancer, Mexico: LIV’s leader in fairways hit, though he’s not cracked the top 10 in his last three starts on the tour. Finished T-58 at The Open.
23. Victor Perez, France: He’s sandwiched a couple top-30s with MCs at Le Golf National, and of late, he’s been up and down with three top-12s in his last six starts but also MCs at both Opens. Good out of the rough.
22. Matteo Manassero, Italy: He’s been having a resurgence of late with three top-15s in his last five starts and a T-31 at Troon. The iron play has been great; he just needs to make a few putts to be a serious contender for a medal.
21. Jason Day, Australia: Notched his best finish since Wells Fargo with a T-13 at Troon. Putting and short game have been as good as usual, and the iron play at The Open was the best it’s been since Pebble.