Between 1904 and 2016, golf was not part of the Olympic Games, but the sport returned in 2016 and will again appear in 2021, as the 2020 Summer Games are set to open a year late, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, in Tokyo later this month. Men and women will both take part in golf, and the competition will feature 72-hole stroke-play tournaments at Kasumigaseki Country Club in Kasahata, Japan, which is about 35 miles away from downtown Tokyo. The fields will be made up of 60 players apiece. The top 15 players from the Olympic Golf Rankings (which, for the men, reflect the Official World Golf Ranking) will qualify. After that, the top two ranked players from countries that do not already have at least two players from the top 15 will be entered, going until the field reaches 60. Japan, as the host country, is guaranteed to have a minimum of two golfers in the field.
Let’s take a look at the field as you consider whether to include golf in your Olympics betting.
Olympic News: Preview of the Men’s Golf Competition
An interesting note is that only 20 of the top 50 ranked men in the world will head to Tokyo. Twenty-one golfers in the field are ranked 150 or lower, including India’s Udayan Mane, who is ranked 356th. Part of this has to do with the PGA Tour’s timing of the FedExCup Playoffs, which are so close to this year’s Olympics that many of the best players in the world had to choose between playing for that Cup or representing their nations. While representing your country is an honor, the Cup brings millions of dollars.
It might also help for golf to have an individual and team concept, building the same sort of competition that emerges in events like the Ryder Cup, as the team competition makes the event compelling television. In the meantime, here is the list of participants; as odds become available, it will be interesting to see who emerges as favorites and dark horses in such a disparate field.
Current Participants
Argentina
Emiliano Grillo (74)
Australia
Cameron Smith (28)
Marc Leishman (43)
Adam Scott declined his spot.
Austria
Matthias Schwab (118)
Sepp Straka (174)
Belgium
Thomas Detry (94)
Thomas Pieters (107)
Canada
Corey Conners (36)
Mackenzie Hughes (63)
Chile
Joaquin Niemann (31)
Mito Pereira (146)
China
Carl Yuan (291)
Ashun Wu (315)
Chinese Taipei
C.T. Pan (181)
Colombia
Sebastian Munoz (67)
Czech Republic
Ondrej Lieser (231)
Denmark
Rasmus Hojgaard (121)
Joachim B. Hansen (151)
Finland
Kalle Samooja (117)
Sami Valimaki (122)
France
Victor Perez (37)
Antoine Rozner (78)
Germany
Maximilian Kieffer (193)
Hurly Long (263)
Martin Kaymer, ranked 99 in the world, declined his spot.
Great Britain
Paul Casey (20)
Tommy Fleetwood (33)
Tyrrell Hatton (ranked 11 in the world), Matt Fitzpatrick (ranked 21), Lee Westwood (ranked 27) declined to go.
India
Anirban Lahiri (340)
Ireland
Rory McIlroy (10)
Shane Lowry (42)
Italy
Guido Migliozzi (72)
Francesco Molinari (133)
Japan
Hideki Matsuyama (16)
Rikuya Hoshino (76)
Malaysia
Gavin Kyle Green (286)
Mexico
Abraham Ancer (23)
Carlos Ortiz (53)
New Zealand
Ryan Fox (178)
Norway
Viktor Hovland (14)
Kristian K. Johannessen (292)
Paraguay
Fabrizio Zanotti (280)
The Philippines
Juvic Pagunsan (216)
Poland
Adrian Meronk (189)
Puerto Rico
Rafael Campos (281)
Slovakia
Rory Sabbatini (167)
South Africa
Garrick Higgo (39)
Christiaan Bezuidenhout (46)
Louis Oosthuizen (ranked 12 in the world) declined to go. Next in line: Branden Grace (60), Daniel von Tonder (79), Erik van Rooyen (87), Dylan Frittelli (88)
South Korea
Sungjae Im (26)
Si Woo Kim (49)
Spain
Jon Rahm (1)
Rafa Cabrera-Bello (140)
Sweden
Alex Noren (93)
Henrik Norlander (136)
Thailand
Jazz Janewattananond (129)
Gunn Charoenkul (260)
United States
Justin Thomas (3)
Collin Morikawa (4)
Bryson DeChambeau (5)
Xander Schauffele (6)
Justin Thomas (2) declined his spot. Next in line: Patrick Cantlay (7), Brooks Koepka (8), Patrick Reed (9), Webb Simpson (13), Tony Finau (15)
Olympics Betting Odds
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