Tokyo Olympics Men’s Golf Betting Preview

The Olympic Games return to the links later this week as the men’s competition begins at Kasumigaseki Golf Club in Saitama, Japan.

Golf at the Olympics is played the same as most PGA Tour stops, with 72 holes over four rounds. The lowest number of strokes over the four rounds takes home the gold medal for their country.

One big difference between the Olympics and PGA Tour events is the size of the field. At the Olympics, only 60 golfers will be competing. Compare that to the 156-player field at the British Open a few weeks ago. The COVID-19 pandemic could also be a factor and already has caused Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau to withdraw.

Morikawa favored in 60-player Olympic field

At Bovada Sportsbook, the favorite in Japan is American Collin Morikawa at +700. Morikawa claimed his second career major victory at the British Open three weeks ago. Morikawa has eight top-10 finishes this season and also beat golf’s best earlier this year when he won the WGC Workday Championship.

Following Morikawa on the odds list at Bovada are Xander Schauffele at +900, Justin Thomas at +1000 and Rory McIlroy at +1100.

Schauffele has yet to record a win on the tour this season but he’s come close several times with six top-10 finishes. He tied for 26th in his last tournament, the British Open.

Thomas continues to look for the consistency that has eluded him for the last couple of months. Since winning the Players Championship in mid-March, he has posted only one top-10 finish in nine tournaments.

McIlroy surprisingly didn’t take part in the Olympics five years ago in Rio de Janeiro and tied for 46th at this year’s British Open. His last tour win was in early May at the Wells Fargo Championship.

No 2016 Rio medalists teeing it up in Tokyo

There won’t be any repeat medal winners from Rio this year in Tokyo. None of the three medalists from the 2016 Games – Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson and Matt Kuchar – are in the field in Tokyo.

The odds on a few other notables at Bovada include Hideki Matsuyama at +1200, Viktor Hovland at +1400 and Patrick Reed at +1800.

Matsuyama may be worth taking a flyer on as he attempts to win a gold medal for his home country. Reed was a late addition to the event as a replacement for DeChambeau. He played in the 3M Open last week and tied for 34th place.