After an absence of more than a century, golf was reinstated to the Olympic Games for Rio 2016. Now it is back for its third go-around at Le Golf National, located just southwest of Paris. Unlike the 1900 games in Paris, where there was a team and individual competition, there are just individual competitions here in Paris with 60 players on the men’s side and 60 on the women’s side.

Like most tournaments, these are four-day stroke-play events held over 72 holes with gold, silver and bronze medals awarded at the conclusion. In the event of a tie, there will be sudden-death playoffs to decide the medals. This happened at the Tokyo Games when Chinese Taipei’s C.T. Pan emerged from a seven-man playoff to earn the bronze medal.

Scottie Scheffler (4-1) and Xander Schauffele (6-1) won three of the four major championships this year and Schauffele is the defending gold medalist from the Tokyo Games.

Rory McIlroy (8-1) represents Ireland for the second straight Olympics and was part of that seven-man playoff for the bronze in Tokyo.

Jon Rahm (11-1) won for the first time in 2024 at LIV UK last weekend.

Collin Morikawa (12-1) was also part of the seven-man playoff for bronze three years ago.

Ludvig Åberg (12-1), Tommy Fleetwood (22-1), Shane Lowry (24-1), Viktor Hovland (28-1), Alex Noren (35-1), Matt Fitzpatrick (50-1) and Sepp Straka (50-1) add to a strong European contingent in this field.

Joaquin Niemann (25-1), Tom Kim (30-1), Corey Conners (35-1), Hideki Matsuyama (35-1), Min Woo Lee (50-1) and Byeong Hun An (55-1) are also medal contenders.

The field of 60 players is selected as follows:

The top 15 world-ranked players on the IGF (International Golf Federation) points list with no more than four players coming from one nation.

The remaining spots are allocated based on said points list with no more than two players coming from one nation.

The IGF guarantees that at least one golfer from the host nation and each geographical region (Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania) also qualifies for the field.

The men’s competition takes place on Thursday through Sunday.

On the men’s side, players who have had previous success here include winners of the Open de France, including Tommy Fleetwood (2017), Alex Noren (2018) and Guido Migliozzi (2022).

Fleetwood also went 4-1 in the 2018 Ryder Cup victory for Team Europe.

Other high past finishes in events held at Le Golf National include McIlroy (third in 2016), Jon Rahm (fifth in 2017 and 10th in 2018), Thorbjørn Olesen (third in 2017 and 10th in 2023), David Puig (fourth in 2022), Ryan Fox (sixth in 2017), Tom Kim (sixth in 2023) and Ludvig Åberg (seventht in 2022).

Jon Rahm (11-1, BetMGM)

It has been a tumultuous year for Rahm. He became the new face of LIV Golf at the end of 2023 and did not dominate in the way most thought he would. Then he disappointed at the majors including having to withdraw from the U.S. Open with an injury.

Last weekend, he finally won at LIV UK and wound up in tears.

A weight might have been finally lifted with the victory. The motivation is certainly there as every time he competes, especially representing Spain, he thinks of his hero, Seve Ballesteros.

The gold medal would certainly make him feel better about a disappointing 2024.

Collin Morikawa (11-1, BetMGM)

Morikawa is winless in 2024 but has finished third at the Masters, fourth at the PGA Championship and has three other top-4 finishes from his last six starts.

While he has never played this course, he can adapt and get acclimated quickly as evidenced by his win on debut at the British Open in 2021.

He also just missed the medals in Tokyo three years ago, losing in the seven-man playoff for bronze.

Tommy Fleetwood (22-1, Caesars Sportsbook)

Fleetwood won the French Open on this course in 2017.

He also was part of the “Moliwood” duo with Francesco Molinari that dominated Team USA at the 2018 Ryder Cup.

Fleetwood is also playing with a heavy heart, as are all the athletes competing for Team GB (Great Britain), because of the tragic stabbing attack in his hometown of Southport, England, on Monday.

Odds to win Olympic Golf at BetMGM

Scottie Scheffler +400
Xander Schauffele +550
Rory McIlroy +850
Jon Rahm +900
Collin Morikawa +1000
Ludvig Aberg +1200
Tommy Fleetwood +2000
Shane Lowry +2200

Odds to win Men's Olympic Golf at BetMGM

Xander Schauffele +190
Jon Rahm +200
Scottie Scheffler +400
Tommy Fleetwood +1000
Hideki Matsuyama +1400
Rory McIlroy +1400
Nicolai Hojgaard +2200
Tom Kim +5000