As the greatest athletes in the world unite for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, the Albatros course at Le Golf National will be the tournament course for the men’s golf competition. This will be the third Olympic tournament for golf since the sport returned to the Olympics in 2016 when British pro, Justin Rose won in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In the 2020 games in Tokyo, American Xander Schauffele took gold.
Located just southwest of central Paris, Le Golf National annually hosts the Open de France on the DP World Tour which is the oldest national open in continental Europe. With it already hosting the Ryder Cup in 2018, it will become the first course to have hosted both the Ryder Cup and the Olympics.
As for the course, it’s a Florida-style design with a hint of Irish links and a lot of French flair sprinkled in. Boasting narrow fairways, gnarly rough, tricky green complexes, water on 10 holes, and one of the toughest closing stretches in the world, Le Golf National is a difficult test of golf. The Albatros Course has a hefty slope rating of 155, the highest a course can be given.
Nine combined players from both the American and European Ryder Cup teams in 2018 will be in action at Le Golf National this week. The setup will differ greatly from that event six years ago with three cuts of gradually increasing rough returning for this competition. 27 out of the 60 golfers in the field have also experienced Le Golf National playing in the French Open which is an annual event on the DP World Tour.
The Field
The International Golf Federation (IGF) uses the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) to create the Olympic Golf Rankings (OGR) as a method of determining eligibility. The top 15 world-ranked players are eligible for the Olympics, with a limit of four players from a given country. Following that, players are eligible based on the world rankings, with a maximum of up to two eligible players from each country that does not already have two or more players among the top 15. This happens until the number of 60 athletes is reached, including continental places.
With only 60 golfers in the tournament combined with the four-player cap per country, only 20 of the top 50 in the world rankings will be in Paris. The four American golfers include Scottie Scheffler (the number one player in the world), Xander Schauffele (the defending Gold medal winner), Wyndham Clark (a first-time Olympian), and Collin Morikawa (who lost in a playoff for the Bronze medal in the 2020 Olympics). Rory McIlroy, Ludvig Aberg, Viktor Hovland, and Jon Rahm are the other top-10 golfers in the world who are part of the field.
Most Important Stats For Success at Le Golf National
*In order of importance
- Distance From Edge of Fairway (DFEF)
- SG: Approach
- SG: Ball Striking (high water danger)
- Bogey/Double-Bogey Avoidance
- Good Drive %
- SG: OTT (Less Than Driver)
- Birdie or Better %
- Par 4 Scoring
- Scrambling
- 3-Putt AVD
Key Rabbit Hole Filters
- Scoring Conditions: Difficult/Very Difficult
- Event Type: No Cut
- Field Size: Small Field
- Water Danger: High
- Greens Surface: Bent/Poa
- Green Size: Large
- Rough Length: Long
- Gain OTT: Difficult
- OTT Club Type: Less Than Driver
- Missed Fairway Penalty: High
- Fairway Accuracy: Difficult
- Gain APP: Difficult
- 3-Putt AVD: Difficult
Weather Forecast – Paris, France
Olympic Golf – Final Model
In each preview article and on Discord, I present my final model, which gives a detailed player ranking of the most important stats and splits for the week. My modeling is built around the PGA’s Strokes Gained data, which is divided into SG: Off the Tee (OTT), SG: Approach (APP), SG: Around the Green (ARG), and SG: Putting (P). Learn more about Strokes Gained and why it can be so useful in analyzing the past and predicting future performance. Many of these specific metrics and conditions can be found in “The Rabbit Hole“, with my final model exclusively published here and in the Discord for subscribers.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1XCkY8SNHp9ptvIKqKBAHLC555oUfYkHVScDzfbOVrj8/edit?usp=sharing
Outright Betting Selections
For the most up-to-date picks, check out my Twitter and subscribe to our Discord at BetspertsGolf.com.
*Lines accurate at the time of publication.
- Jon Rahm +1100 (2.1u) – MGM
- Viktor Hovland +2800 (0.85u) – FD
- Wyndham Clark +7000 (0.34u) – Rivers
- Thomas Detry +7000 (0.34u) – Rivers
Finishing Position Picks
Top 5
- Scottie Scheffler -110 (1.1u) – Rivers
Top 10
- Tommy Fleetwood +140 (1u) – DK
- Viktor Hovland +180 (1u) – DK
- Shane Lowry +190 (1u) – DK
Top 20
- Matt Fitzpatrick -110 (1u) – DK
- Thomas Detry +115 (1u) – DK
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Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images