IF you believe the bookies, only Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm stand between the Americans and a clean sweep of the medals in this week’s Olympic golf tournament.
World No 1 and Masters champion Scottie Scheffler is a hot favourite to take gold, at a best priced 4-1, with defending Olympic champion Xander Schauffele – a two-time Major winner this year – clear second best at 6-1.
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McIlroy, an 8-1 shot and Rahm are next best in the market, with the Spaniard available at 10-1, a point lower than Collin Morikawa, the man the Yanks hope will join Scheffler and Schauffele on the podium.
But come on, this is the Olympics, and everyone loves to see an underdog do well. And it certainly happened in Tokyo, where the men who claimed silver and bronze behind Schauffele were Rory Sabbatini and CT Pan.
Pan actually beat the likes of McIlroy, Morikawa Hideki Matsuyama and three other players in a mass play-off for the bronze medal.
So let’s hope for some more shocks, and try to have a bit of fun with some of the longer priced contenders.
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The name that leaps out lower down the market is that of Guido Migliozzi, at a mouth-watering 80-1.
The Italian was an impressive winner of the French Open over the Olympic course in 2022, and local knowledge is likely to be invaluable at such a tricky course as LE Golf National.
Migliozzi won again last month when he triumphed at the KLM Open in Holland.
He also played some eye-catching golf over the weekend when he finished tied 31st at the Open, so he has to go on the short list.
His fellow Italian, the hugely likeable Matteo Manassero, has made a heart-warming return to form this year. At 150-1 he is also worth a small interest.
Likewise, the French duo of Matthieu Pavon and Viktor Perez have to come into the reckoning at odds of 70-1 and 90-1 respectively.
Pavon has enjoyed a breakout season on the PGA Tour while Perez’s third at the Canadian Open and a top ten at the Scottish Open were fine efforts.
They are duty bound to play the French Open every year. Their inside knowledge of the intricacies of the Olympic course could be worth a shot or two.
Tommy Fleetwood has plenty of supporters after winning the French Open at Le National in 2017 – before enjoying runaway success over the same course as part of the ‘Moliwood’ combination that won all four matches in the 2018 Ryder Cup.
But that French Open win was a bit of a fluke. Fleetwood missed the cut in all of his other starts in the event. So odds of 20-1 are not over-generous.
So why not look even further down the list – and throw in two more 150-1 shots in Emiliano Grillo and Stephan Jaeger?
We may not get a golf medalist – or even a silver and bronze winner. But with most bookies offering at least six places, the each way market looks to be the one to tap into.
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It could pay to employ the same method for the women’s event, which gets under way the day after the men’s tournament finishes on August 4.
Nelly Korda is the market leader here at 11-2, which is not surprising after her six wins in the first half of the season – although she seems to have gone off the boil recently.
What IS surprising is to see world No 4 Amy Yang at 40-1. OK, she has had injury problems in the last year, but she won the Women’s PGA Championship a couple of starts ago. At these odds I’d happily back her on one leg!”
Lilia Vu is a personal favourite, and 11-1 looks fair for the world No 2, while the gritty Carlota Ciganda is a player who can be relied on to give you a run for your money.
She is widely available at 33-1, and one bookie is even matching the 40-1 odds on Yang.
Le Golf National is a tough test, which could bring in the long-hitters who may not be the most consistent golfers. Sweden’s Maja Stark fits that bill, so odds of 70-1 look pretty tempting.
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