James

OLYMPICS MEN’S GOLF PREVIEW #Paris2024 #OlympicGames PART ONE… (1/2). A great week in Paris awaits as the controversial Men’s Olympics golf tournament kicks off on Thursday. You may be thinking why is it controversial? Well, its existence itself is controversial and whether or not golf should be in the Olympics is still somehow a hot topic of debate. The format has also been questioned, participation of some players (Joost Luiten and Darius van Driel) has been denied and even Wyndham Clark’s presence on the USA team has made headlines. When the first tee shot on Thursday morning is hit, all can be forgotten about and every single player will be vowing to bring back a medal for their country. It’s such an interesting week for many reasons, but the main reason is that the players are playing for something bigger than themselves, like an individual version of a Ryder/Presidents Cup. Shane Lowry put it quite right earlier in the week, this isn’t a dream come true for a lot of golfers as Olympics Golf wasn’t a thing since 2016. As players pretended to putt to win a trophy as a child, it was to win The Masters or The Open - not an Olympic Medal. That makes it even more special in my opinion, it’s almost like playing an added bonus level on a game - it was never the end goal but you still want it just as much. We will see that this week, there is an opportunity for players to put themselves into the history books of their respective nations which is something they don’t get to do every week. For anyone to snub that idea and not get any excitement from it, it bemuses me. At the Tokyo Olympics, we saw how much it meant to Rory Sabbatini and CT Pan to win medals for their small countries (Slovakia and Taiwan) and all of that is possible again this week. So, from a betting perspective, this is a TERRIBLE week to gamble. And I mean terrible. The odds are shocking, there’s only 60 players in the field and there are so many narratives to choose from, you’ll give yourself a headache even thinking about it. Regular readers of my previews will know that this has came a day later, because I sat down before work on Monday and I honestly had no idea who I was going to back. I have decided on two men who could be stood on the podium on Sunday however. I am backing them both in 365 with 3 places EW. You get an enhanced price for doing so and I think it makes a lot of sense considering 4th place means nothing this week. That’s my one tip for the week, back with 3 places. My 2 picks for the week… Scottie Scheffler (11/2 EW 3 places). (1/5 of the odds so if he’s solo second or solo third I’m essentially getting my stake back). Here we go again, I’m back on the Scottie train. I had my doubts about him at The Open and he proved me wrong. He handled all the conditions the Scottish coast thrown at him however it was his putting which ultimately put him out of contention on the Sunday as Schauffele ran away with the lead. It’s my main concern once again this week for Scottie, the putter. His ball striking is at another level and on Saturday at Troon it was breathtaking (as was Xander’s). Yes, his putting will keep me up at night in the evenings prior to him teeing off on Thursday, however I feel that Scottie can bounce back with a big performance this week. Le Golf National rewards elite ball strikers, with the water and punishing rough ready to penalise anyone who threatens to bite off more than they can chew. Scheffler should thrive on this course but he must putt well to have a chance of the gold medal. I am confident Scheffler can bounce back with the flat stick this week. After a horrific putting display at Pinehurst, he bounced back with a solid putting week at The Travelers, which he won in a playoff. He hasn’t had two weeks in a row where he’s lost strokes gained in putting since the first two weeks of the season. I am hoping he can put his woes on the green behind him this week and clinch gold for Team USA in Paris.