Paris 2024 Olympics Men’s Golf betting tips: Collin Morikawa and Shane Lowry to contend

The format of the competition is the same as any other four-day tournament, with 60 players teeing off on Thursday morning, with no half-way cut.

The line-up is made up of the top 15 players in the world rankings, with a maximum of four per nation from that group, which is why the USA have four players (Messers Scheffler, Schauffele, Morikawa and Clark are ranked 1,3, 5 and 7 respectively), and also why there is no room for US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau.

The remainder of the 60-man line-up is made up from the next-highest ranked players, subject to availability, up to a maximum of two players per nation, all of which has left us with 32 different countries represented at Le Golf National.

Olympic Men's Golf key stats:

• When: August 1-4 2024
• Where: L’Albatros Course, Le Golf National, near Paris, France 
• How long: 7,174 yards - par 71
• Who won in Tokyo 2021: Xander Schauffele 

With four players from the top seven in the world rankings, USA are strongly fancied to dominate proceedings, with Xander Schauffele looking to defend his Tokyo Olympic title just a couple of weeks after landing his first Open Championship.

Despite that, he has to concede the favourite tag to the inevitable Scottie Scheffler, who was not quite on his game at Troon, but still managed to overcome the testing conditions to grab seventh spot.

Wyndham Clark missed the cut at the Open, but had secured top-ten finishes in his previous two outings, so he should not be dismissed, but arguably the best value for another American success lies with Collin Morikawa.

Kicking off with his third place at the Masters in March, the 2021 Open champion has enjoyed ten straight top-16 finishes, including five top-5s, and is surely knocking on the door of a high-profile victory.

At a double-digit price and with six places widely available, Morikawa offers the each-way value that Scheffler (9/2) and Schauffele (13/2) appear to lack.

Suggested bet (1): Collin Morikawa each-way in the Olympic Men’s Golf

One major factor that might work against the American contingent is the fact Le Golf National has staged the French Open for the last 30 years or so, not to mention the 2018 Ryder Cup, which could work in favour of those Europeans who have excelled here before.

Tommy Fleetwood (2017), Alex Noren (2018) and Guido Migliozzi (2022) have all won here in recent years, which should raise their hopes of winning a medal for Great Britain, Sweden and Italy respectively.

Of those, the Italian looks overpriced for the most recent course winner who has also been in decent form of late, coming runner-up at the China Open, missing out in a play-off at the Dutch Open, and far from disgraced in making the top 30 at Troon two weeks ago.

With no halfway cut to negotiate, Migliozzi has the skillset and the mindset to put himself in contention, and could well make a nonsense of his huge price by Sunday afternoon.

Suggested bet (2): Guido Migliozzi each-way in the Olympic Men’s Golf

Rory McIlroy has elected to represent Ireland rather than Great Britain & Northern Ireland, and after his recent trials and tribulations, surely no golfing fan would begrudge the world number three a taste of Olympic glory.

He should hopefully be in the mix, but remains unappetising at 8/1, while his Irish team-mate Shane Lowry looks much better value at upwards of 20/1.

Only a back-nine meltdown on the third day at Troon cost him a chance of landing his second Claret Jug, and he has been trending towards his first individual win of the season since winning the Zurich Pairs competition alongside McIlroy in April.

Suggested bet (3): Shane Lowry each-way in the Olympic Men’s Golf

We should not forget to mention the home advantage of the two French hopes, both of whom could follow the Olympic pattern of raising their game in front of their own fans.

The form of Victor Perez has been less consistent, but in between too many missed cuts, third-placed finishes at the Puerto Rico Open and the Canadian Open as well as a top-10 spot at the Scottish Open should give him some encouragement that he can punch above his weight on home soil.

Matthieu Pavon memorably became the first Frenchman to win a PGA Tour event for over a century when landing the Farmers Insurance Championship at Torrey Pines in January, and he has since proved that was no fluke by tying for 12th at the Masters and finishing fifth at the US Open.

Suggested bet (4): Matthieu Pavon each-way in the Olympic Men’s Golf

Others to watch:

• Jon Rahm (9/1) - Showed glimpses of his best when coming 7th at the Open, and backed that up by winning LIV’s UK Invitational last weekend
• Ludvig Aberg (12/1) - has not quite matched his stellar Major debut at the Masters, but he relished the Ryder Cup and could easily raise his game for an event like this.
• Tommy Fleetwood (20/1) - Would love to emulate Justin Rose’s gold at Rio in 2016, and had been showing solid form before conditions got the better of him at Troon.
• Tom Kim (22/1) - Whatever the South Korean does, he’ll do it with a smile on his face, and if his game can match his energy then he could well be in the mix after coming sixth in the French Open last year.
• Thorbjorn Olesen (85/1) - A host of outsiders could contend here, and we’re plumping for the Danish number two, who only booked his Olympic ticket at the US Open, and has enjoyed decent finishes in his previous French Open outings.
• Shubhankar Sharma (200/1) - This might look like a pinsticker’s shot in the dark, but India’s best golfer has been playing solidly all season, was fifth at the Italian Open a month ago, and since made the top 20 at Troon.

Suggested bet (5): Tom Kim each-way in the Olympic Men’s Golf

Suggested bet summary:

• Collin Morikawa - USA (10/1) 
• Shane Lowry - Ireland (22/1) 
• Tom Kim - South Korea (25/1)  
• Matthieu Pavon - France (60/1) 
• Guido Migliozzi - Italy (75/1) 

All listed prices are from Planet Sport Bet and are correct at time of article publication, but could be subject to change

READ MORE: Paris 2024 Olympics betting tips: 100 metres, basketball, hockey and more…