Olympic Golf Preview and Best Bets: Athletes Compete for Gold
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00:05Olympic golf begins this week over in Perry.
00:09It starts on Thursday.
00:11So to get you set for the best golfers in the world in the hunt for a gold medal.
00:15Keith Stewart joins us here on this Tuesday on the early line on sports grid.
00:20Keith, as always, we appreciate the time.
00:23Thank you for joining us here on the early line.
00:26Ben, it's a pleasure to be with you.
00:28And the only place that's hotter than Paris right now is read the line.
00:32We just came off a double win Sunday.
00:34I had Johnny Vegas plus 8000.
00:37He wins the 3M.
00:38And then later that night in Calgary, the ladies, Lauren Coughlin.
00:42First victory of her LPGA career.
00:44She finishes it out there, up there in the Women's Canadian Open at plus 4000.
00:49120 to one on a Sunday.
00:52Let's roll into the gold medal talk.
00:54I'm ready.
00:5680 to 140 to one.
00:58Let's hope to catch some big tickets this week over in France as well.
01:02Keith, let's start with the format.
01:04Only the third year that Olympic golf has really been back in our lives.
01:07It's the very early days of the Olympiad 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.
01:11It was Justin Rose taking home gold 2021 in Tokyo.
01:16It was Zander Shafley's first major career event.
01:19Of course, two major championships this year during 2024.
01:23So what is the format of the Olympic golf on the men's side that we are going to see over in Paris?
01:29Well, I'll tell you what.
01:31We haven't reinvented the wheel here.
01:33It's four days of individual stroke play.
01:36It is very similar to a PGA Tour event.
01:38Starts on Thursday.
01:39It's going to end on Sunday.
01:40It's 60 players.
01:42And it's actually very close to a PGA Tour event these days because it's a limited field with no cut.
01:47So they're going to get four days and they're going to play for three places.
01:51And that's kind of the unique aspect of all of this is that first place does get you gold.
01:55For a lot of these guys, though, just winning a medal would be a big deal.
01:58If you remember back in 2021 in Japan, there was a seven-way tie for the bronze medal.
02:04And CT Pan ended up winning.
02:06But in that playoff in Japan, you had Hideki.
02:09You had Colin Murakawa.
02:10You had Rory.
02:11You had Paul Casey.
02:12You had a bunch of names.
02:13And it's not often that you see a seven-man playoff for third place.
02:17So there is some uniqueness to the event this week.
02:20Take a look at the actual event itself where it's being played, Keith.
02:24Tell us a little bit about the event and also how this golf course plays into it
02:28and maybe some of the players that might benefit from this golf course.
02:31Well, we are going to Le Golf National, which is a staple on the DP World Tour.
02:37Every fall, they play the Open de France there.
02:39It is the French Open, per se, as we would say over here.
02:43It is also the host of the 2018 Ryder Cup.
02:46Now, I wouldn't put a lot of stock in those matches or who played well there.
02:49The design of the golf course and the way that they set it up
02:52was to try to hamper the Americans from playing well.
02:55I mean, they grew the rough really high.
02:57They pinched a bunch of fairways.
02:58This is going to be set up much more like a DP World Tour event.
03:01I think that scoring will be prevalent.
03:03Over the last five years, the average winning score has been 12 to 13 under par
03:07in the Open de France.
03:09So people that have played in the French Open and are stalwarts over there
03:13on the DP World Tour are definitely folks that I'd be favoring, Donnie.
03:17We have 30 rookies in this event, and that's half the field,
03:21four of whom are the American players.
03:23Scotty, Xander, Colin, and Wyndham Clark have not played a competition here before.
03:29Yeah, that 2018 Ryder Cup team for the United States
03:34did not feature Scotty Sheffler.
03:36Xander Shoffley just very closely missing out on points qualification,
03:41so it's new ground for them over at Les Golfes Nationaux.
03:44So now let's look at the actual odds, Keith,
03:47and get those early leans here on the early line for Olympic golf.
03:51We had the conversation last week after the Open championship.
03:55Who should be the PGA Tour golfer of the year?
03:58Is it Scotty Sheffler, his green jacket, his six PGA Tour victories this season,
04:04or is it Xander Shoffley?
04:06Two major championships and two other top tens.
04:10We can see what the gold medal race looks like.
04:13Sheffler, the favorite, plus 360, but less than $2 behind.
04:17It's Xander Shoffley at a plus 550 price.
04:20Is it a two golfer race?
04:22Both coming from the American side.
04:26Well, I'll tell you what.
04:27I would be worried about the lack of course experience there.
04:30There's six guys under 20 to 1, under plus 2,000,
04:34and two of whom are Jon Rahm, who's coming off winning Live London.
04:38He has course experience there.
04:40He's been there a couple times.
04:41He's got two top tens.
04:43And then there's another name, Rory McIlroy.
04:45He's been there a couple times, competed, and he has two top fives.
04:49Of the other guys up there at the top, Colin Morikawa, Ludwig Obert,
04:53they have not played this golf course before.
04:55The golf course is kind of quirky.
04:57It is very positional.
04:58It is one of those golf courses over here on the PGA Tour.
05:01They always pick a certain type of player.
05:03It is not one of those that features length over accuracy.
05:06It is the opposite of that.
05:08So I think that some of the superpowers of Scotty Scheffler
05:11are a little bit hindered.
05:13And if I'm picking one over the other, Zander over Scotty,
05:16for all the reasons that Zander won Royal Troon,
05:18you would have to think that Zander is the favorite here again.
05:21Do we live in a world where a guy is going to win two majors
05:24and defend his gold medal?
05:26Well, if there was one guy who could do it, it would definitely be the X-Man.
05:30If we're looking at this tournament, Keith,
05:32the international flavor usually adds to the excitement here.
05:35When you take a look at the Ryder Cup, the crowds are really into it.
05:38Is this more of like a PGA golf crowd,
05:40or is there going to be wild cheering with people
05:42rooting for their nation and or golfers at the same time?
05:46I think it's going to be much more like a Ryder Cup
05:48or even a World Cup crowd.
05:50And one of the big questions I have this week, DRS,
05:53is what is your motivation for winning a medal?
05:56For the guys over there, for Scotty running around with Meredith,
05:59his wife and his kid, and they're at the Louvre looking at the Mona Lisa.
06:02He's going to watch ping pong matches.
06:04I'm not quite sure what his motivation is.
06:07Sure, he wants to win a gold medal,
06:09but when you talk about a guy like Shane Lowry,
06:11who's got on the front of the boat and was the flag bearer for Ireland,
06:14or you're talking about Tom Kim,
06:16a person that's facing career question marks
06:20because he has mandatory military service coming up in South Korea.
06:24What is your motivation to win a medal?
06:26I think that's the biggest question you have to answer
06:28before building your betting card this week.
06:31So, Keith, let's take some of those early leans here on the early line.
06:35What are some of the odds you are looking at
06:37in the players associated in the final minute of this segment?
06:41I love Shane Lowry at plus 2,400.
06:44He won at Royal Portrush in front of a home crowd
06:47so he could handle that kind of pressure.
06:49I also love Tom Kim for the reasons I just outlined.
06:52How about a couple of bobs?
06:54You've got Victor Perez and Matthew Pavone playing at home.
06:57They're going to know the golf course better than anybody,
06:59and both of them are pushing triple digits as far as the odds go.
07:03Yeah, it will be very exciting this week
07:06at Les Golfes Nationaux over in the suburbs of Paris.
07:11Keith Stewart, as always, we appreciate the time here on this Tuesday
07:15on the early line on Sports Grid.