Olympics men’s golf betting tips: Schauffele for gold

Odds and preview for Wednesday’s four-day tournament

A 60-man field made up of 36 countries lines up at the Kasumigaseki Country Club and we have scrutinised the field for some potential Olympics men’s golf betting tips.

Reigning men’s gold medallist Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson (silver) and Matt Kuchar (bronze) won’t be adding another medal to their collections, with all three failing to qualify for Team GB, Sweden and the USA respectively.

The 7,466-yard par-71 East Course at Kasumigaseki Country Club, redesigned by Tom and Logan Fazio, is situated in Kawagoe City, Saitama Prefecture.

With thick Zoysia grass rough and Bentgrass greens, it will be a good test in the hot and humid conditions, where we should anticipate slightly slower green speeds.

Market leaders

As in Rio in 2016, the United States are the only country with more than two qualifiers in the field, with new Open champion Collin Morikawa, Xander Schauffele, Justin Thomas and Patrick Reed representing their nation.

The quartet are high in the betting market and their chances have increased with world number one and US Open champion Jon Rahm missing the event because of a positive Covid-19 test.

Morikawa is the 7/1 favourite following his victory at Royal St George’s, where he showed great maturity and an unusually hot putter to beat Jordan Spieth by two shots.

The two-time major champion produced a flawless final round of 66 to take home the Claret Jug on his Open debut.

The 24-year-old also set a new course record for the lowest score at St George’s, his 256 strokes beating Greg Norman’s 1993 effort by two.

Schauffele is a 9/1 chance. He produced a superb back nine at the Open, with a five-under final round moving him to three-under and a T36 finish.

The recently-married Schauffele has been one of the most reliable players in major championships in recent years and while he has not been able to close out for a win, he is one of the best iron players in the world.

While he hit only 10 greens in regulation in his opening round, which cost him dearly at the Open, his approach play can be relied upon to keep him in the mix here.

Thomas, at 10/1 in the Olympics men’s golf betting tips, will make plenty of appeal if putting all the elements of his game together. His putter let him down at Royal St George’s and it has become a worrying trend.

However, he generally putts well on slower greens and may get the conditions in his favour.

At larger odds

Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama and Rikuya Hoshino represent home nation Japan.

Matsuyama, the first Japanese player to win a golf major, has buoyed embattled Tokyo 2020 organisers, speaking of his desire to “make my fellow Japanese citizens proud” and is a 12/1 chance on home turf.

The former world number two had gone nearly four years without a victory and had no top-10 finishes in 2021 before ending those droughts in spectacular style at Augusta but has been playing well subsequently and is rested after missing the Open.

Britain’s hopes of another men’s golf medal lie with Ryder Cup stars Paul Casey (16/1) and Tommy Fleetwood (28/1).

Casey (pictured above) has made 66 starts in major championships but has never won a major title.

He has made the cut 49 times, with 12 top-10 finishes and two of those came this year when T4 at the PGA Championship and T7 at the US Open.

His T15 at the Open Championship was built on his solid driving and his consistent greens-in-regulation percentage, so he also comes under consideration.

The Olympics men’s golf betting tips see Shane Lowry, at 22/1, flying the flag for Ireland, along with Rory McIlroy (12/1), who missed Rio in 2016.

Though he left himself with too much to do after an opening round 71, Lowry finished six-under for a T12 finish in a valiant attempt at defending the Claret Jug at Royal St George’s.

Lowry has been consistent in 2021, with his best performance coming at the US PGA Championship, where he finished in a tie for fourth, with further top-10 finishes at the Players Championship, the RBC Heritage and the Memorial Tournament.

Elsewhere

Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman (35/1) will represent Australia, looking to add individual medals to the Zurich Classic they won together in April.

Smith, who is on the shortlist at 22/1, dropped away with a four-over final round in the Open Championship to leave him T33 at two-under for the tournament.

Yet he has played consistently well in the big championships, so gets onto the Olympics men’s golf betting tips list almost automatically.

Leishman, on the other hand, snapped his putter in two at the Open after failing to sink anything in the second round.

If looking for extra motivation, Sungjae Im at 25/1 and Si Woo Kim (50/1) will have more to play for than most.

If either of the South Koreans win a medal, they can forgo a two-year military stint, which is mandatory for males between ages 18-28.

The pair both withdrew from the Open in order to focus on the Olympics.

View all the latest Olympic men’s golf odds

All odds and markets are correct as of the date of publication