Olympics Men’s Golf Odds: Best Bets & Outright Picks
by Bradley Gibbs | by Bradley Gibbs
Paris Olympics 2024 Golf
As August comes to a close, action on the primary golf tours gets pushed aside as the best in the business head to France, where they’ll battle it out for glory at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
Defending gold medallist, Xander Schauffele, who recently showed his class when winning the Open Championship, will be looking to continue his fantastic season, in which he has already claimed two majors.
Rory Sabbatini, who came second in Tokyo, will not be in attendance at Le National, located in Guyancourt, near the French capital, meaning that there will definitely be a new silver medallist, though C.T. Pan, who claimed bronze, is set to feature.
Many of the world’s top talents will tee it up at France’s most prestigious golfing venue, including Viktor Hovland, Shane Lowry, Tommy Fleetwood, Collin Morikawa, Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler, so we should be in for four fantastic days of stroke-play action.
Ahead of the French festivities, we’re here to see if we can snuff out some betting value, so let’s take a look at our picks for this year's games:
Below are a few viable betting opportunities for the Olympics Men’s golf event:
Jon Rahm to win outright: +1400 with FanDuel
Spaniard Jon Rahm has long been considered one of the best golfers on the planet and rightly so. The two-time major winner didn’t play at the last Olympics, while he didn’t play in Rio in 2016 either.
I’m not going to let a lack of Olympics experience put me off, though. The former world number one and current world number ten has positive form at Le National, competing at the venue twice before, finishing inside the top ten on both occasions.
Of those players in the field to have played at Le National before, Rahm ranks as the third best in terms of average score, ranking first in terms of average score of those to have played two or more tournaments at the venue.
In terms of recent form, Rahm is in pretty good shape, making the top ten in four of his last six events, finishing seventh in the Open (his latest effort at the time of writing).
We know that he’s a man for the big occasion, finishing T10 or better (including a win) in four of his last seven majors.
Ultimately, putting it all together, odds of +1400 look a little generous. I’d have him a little shorter here. Don’t be surprised if he’s lurking around the top come the final day. I certainly won’t be.
Shane Lowry to win outright: +3000 with DraftKings Sportsbook
Heading into the final couple of days, it all looked rather rosy for Shane Lowry at the Open Championship last week. Not for the first time, the Irishman let himself down in that major, surrendering a strong position, before eventually finishing sixth.
However, the quality of the man was there for all to see at one of golf’s biggest and best events, so I really won’t be surprised if he manages to feature prominently in France next week.
Fourth on the DP World Tour for strokes gained: off-the-tee, Lowry has been in decent form of late, posting three top-ten finishes in his last six events, as well as a top-20, while he’s got plenty of Le National experience, finishing inside the top 20 at the Guyancourt venue on three previous occasions.
Alex Noren to win outright: +5000 with DraftKings Sportsbook
Now hitting the eye-watering odds. Alex Noren looks very generously priced here. The Swede hasn’t exactly had the season of his life, but he’s quietly played himself into form over the last few weeks, which perhaps shouldn’t be ignored ahead of an event at a venue where he’s enjoyed himself before.
At the time of writing, the 42-year-old has posted respectable T13 and T10 finishes in his last two events, while he’s among the players with the most experience at Le National in this field.
A couple of eye-catching stats regarding Noren are that he currently ranks fifth on the DP World Tour for scoring average, as well as fourth for strokes gained: total.
Moreover, Noren, who also sits in a promising 13th for strokes gained: total on the PGA Tour this season, is one of only three players set to compete to have won at this venue previously, while he’s often been there or thereabouts, finishing T10 or better in three of his last four events at Le National. With odds of +5000 on offer, that level of form will do for me.
Thorbjorn Olesen to win outright: +10000 with FanDuel
I’m going to throw a fourth and final dart at this event, and that dart comes in the form of Thorbjorn Olesen, who really does look sizably priced at odds of +10000.
The Norwegian is no stranger to playing well at European venues, while this is also a man who currently ranks sixth on the DP World Tour for strokes gained: total, not to mention fourth for strokes gained: putting.
Throw in that Olesen has previously finished 10th, 3rd and 2nd at Le National and he simply must go down as a value bet at such large odds.
