Men’s Golf Paris Olympics 2024 - Rahm to Strike Gold

• The tournament takes place at Le Golf National, a DP World Tour stop

• Xander Schauffele is the defending champion after winning in Tokyo

• World No.1 Scottie Scheffler is the betting favorite

Olympic Men’s Golf 2024 Odds

Odds courtesy of BetMGM Sportsbook. Click on the odds in the table below to head to BetMGM and place your bets using WSN promo code WSNSPORTS: Get Up to $1,500 in Bonus Bets!

Olympic Men’s Golf 2024 Predictions

• Jon Rahm for the win at (+900) via BetMGM Sportsbook

• Tom Kim to beat Viktor Hovland over 72 holes at (-120) via bet365

• Byeong Hun An for Top 10 (including ties) at (+275) via BetMGM Sportsbook

Olympic Men’s Golf 2024 Intro

With Olympic sport long since considered an amateur pursuit, it’s no surprise that pro golf is now establishing itself in the Games.

It took a while to return though.

Golf was left out in the cold for nearly a century before making its comeback at Rio in Brazil eight years ago.

Justin Rose won that 2016 edition, his pride at winning gold immense having grown up watching the Games as a child.

And it was extra special for Xander Schauffele in Tokyo in 2021. 

Schauffele’s German father had dreamt of becoming an Olympic decathlete before losing an eye when being struck by a drunk driver.

Not only that, Schauffele’s mother was raised in Japan and his grandparents were based in Tokyo.    

Le Golf National plays host to the 2024 edition and it’s well known due to being a regular stop on the DP World Tour.

But American players and fans won’t have happy memories of it after Europe thrashed the US there in the 2018 Ryder Cup.

A total of 60 players tee off in Paris, with a limit of four golfers from a given country.

The format is regular 72-hole strokeplay. A hole-by-hole playoff will decide medal placings if scores are tied. Only one gold, one silver and one bronze are awarded.      

Medal Winners at Recent Olympics

Course Notes

• Le Golf National is a par 71 and measures 7,174 yards

• It has played host to the Open de France 29 times, most recently in 2023

• The course has tight fairways and plenty of undulations 

• The final four holes are all surrounded by water

• Europe beat the USA 17.5-10.5 there in the 2018 Ryder Cup

Favorites to Win Olympic Men’s Golf 2024

Scottie Scheffler (+400) at BetMGM

This is Scheffler’s first appearance in the Olympics and also his debut at Le Golf National. He’s enjoyed an incredible 2024, winning six times on the PGA Tour including the Masters, but he had to settle for seventh in the Open Championship last time after deciding to sit out the previous week’s Scottish Open.

Bet on Scottie Scheffler (+400) at BetMGM

Xander Schauffele (+550) at BetMGM

Schauffele is the defending Olympic champion after his narrow one-shot victory in Tokyo three years ago. And he bids for gold again as a two-time major winner in 2024 after capturing May’s PGA Championship at Hazeltine and the Open Championship at Royal Troon a couple of weeks ago. Like Scheffler, he’s also seeing Le Golf National for the first time.

Bet on Xander Schauffele (+550) at BetMGM      

Rory McIlroy (+800) at BetMGM

Unlike his main two American rivals, McIlroy does have experience of Golf National. Strokeplay-wise it’s a long way in the past but third (2016) and fourth (2010) on his two most recent appearances bodes well. He won two points out of five there in the 2018 Ryder Cup. A missed cut in the Open was a huge surprise but he has a habit of bouncing back from major disappointments.

Bet on Rory McIlroy (+800) at BetMGM      

Timing Right for Rahm

You get four chances to shine in the majors each season. But in the Olympics it’s flipped: one single opportunity every four years.

Timing is everything - and that’s why the planets could be aligned for Jon Rahm.

With Scheffler showing a few signs of cooling off, Schauffele perhaps breathing out after his Royal Troon win and McIlroy still hard to predict, the door is open.

And Rahm has the momentum to burst through it after showing a real return to form in recent weeks.

The double major winner has had a difficult year since moving to LIV.

But he bounced back to form with a fast-finishing seventh at the Open in Scotland and, off the back of that, travelled to England to secure his first LIV GOLF title.

Rahm is a monster when he sees the Spanish flag flying as shown by three wins in his home Open de Espana.

Course form is the final piece of the jigsaw. 

He’s finished fifth and 10th in his two Open de France starts at Le Golf National while he took down Tiger Woods in the singles there when it staged the 2018 Ryder Cup.

Back Rahm to win at (+900) with Bet MGMSportsbook. 

Bet on Jon Rahm (+900) at BetMGM      

Kim to Beat Hovland

We landed another 72-hole match bet last week in comfortable fashion as -120 pick Taylor Pendrith finished fifth at the 3M Open and Erik Van Rooyen missed the cut.

For this Olympics head-to-head, let’s take Korea’s Tom Kim at (-120) with bet365 to get the better of Norway’s Viktor Hovland.

With the Paris Games in mind, Kim came over to France to play this course in 2023 and it paid off as he left Le Golf National with a sixth place under his belt.

This track suits his game and he’s shown plenty of good form over the summer, including second place at the Travelers Championship.

Hovland is making his first start at the course and his rather erratic season continued with a missed cut (75-77) in the Open.

Bet on Tom Kim (-120) at bet365      

An for Top 10

Byeong Hun An has a significant Olympic connection as his parents both won medals in table tennis at the 1988 Games in Seoul.

But beyond that, the Korean has some good credentials of his own after posting 13th in the Open Championship a couple of weeks ago and 20th on his only start at Le Golf National. 

Back him at (+275) via BetMGM Sportsbook to finish in the Top 10 (including ties).

Bet on Byeong Hun (+275) at BetMGM      

How to Watch the Olympic Men’s Golf 2024

• Tournament: Olympic Men’s Golf 2024

• Location: Le Golf National, Paris, France

• Date: Thursday August 01 - Sunday August 04

• How to watch: Thursday-Friday 3 a.m.-12 p.m. (Golf Channel, Peacock), Saturday-Sunday 3 a.m.-12.30 p.m. (Golf Channel, Peacock). And all four days on BBC Sport.