This article is part of our FanDuel PGA DFS Picks series.
Olympic Men's Golf
Course: Le Golf National (7,174 yards, par 71)
Winner: Gold Medal
Tournament Preview
The PGA Tour is taking the week off to observe the Olympic Men's Golf Competition set to be contested at Le Golf National in Paris, France. The FedExCup race will move into more focus at the Wyndham Championship next week, but for now 60 of the top golfers in the world will be trying to claim a medal to make their country proud. 32 different countries will be represented in Paris as the players will compete over 72 holes. It's all about pride this week as there is no money or FedExCup points awarded, although there is OWGR points that will be handed out and a guaranteed spot in all the 2025 majors for the winner of the gold medal.
Golf has a limited history in the Olympic Games. The first time it was included was actually in Paris back in 1900. It returned to the following summer games in St. Louis in 1904 and then was left off the Olympic program until 2016 in Rio. Justin Rose won the gold medal that year for Great Britain with Henrik Stenson taking silver for Sweden and Matt Kuchar taking bronze for the United States. The 2020 Tokyo Olympics, contested in 2021 due to COVID-19, was won by two-time major winner in 2024 Xander Schauffele. Rory Sabbatini took silver for Slovakia and C.T. Pan won a seven-man playoff to earn the bronze medal for Chinese Taipei. Hideki Matsuyama and Rory McIlroy were among the notables that fell in the playoff for the bronze medal. Unlike all other events in golf, there will be a sudden-death playoff for each of the top-three positions if necessary as only one gold, one silver and one bronze medal can be handed out. McIlroy summed it up perfectly in Tokyo when he said, "I've never fought so hard to finish third in my life."
Le Golf National has a ton of history and is the perfect spot for this golf competition to be contested. The course has hosted the Open de France on the DP World Tour since 1991, with the exception of 1999 and 2001. The Open de France is the oldest national open in continental Europe and it will be contested again at Le Golf National in October as part of the DP World Tour's "Back 9." 27 of the 60 golfers in the field this week have played at Le Golf National in the Open de France, so there's certainly some more course history to be utilized than what was the case in Rio and Tokyo. Le Golf National also hosted the Ryder Cup back in 2018 which Europe dominated winning 17.5-10.5. That more than likely was the last Ryder Cup we will ever see Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson compete at.
As was the case in the last two Summer Olympic Games, the women's golf competition will be contested the week after the men on the same course. The women will play Le Golf National as a par 72 at 6,374 yards, while the men play it as a par 71 at 7,174 yards. The difference in the pars is due to the women playing the challenging 18th hole with water in front of the green as a par-5. The Americans swept gold in golf at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with Nelly Korda taking the top spot on the podium. Host courses have been announced for the next two Summer Olympics with Riviera getting the 2028 Los Angeles games and Royal Queensland getting the 2032 Brisbane games.
Le Golf National is all about precision. The fairways are narrow and features graduated rough starting at 2.5 inches and going to as much as 4.7 inches well off the fairways. There are also water hazards that come into play on roughly 10 holes. The good news for the players is that France had a pretty wet early part of the year and should lead to these large greens being receptive. The winds also should be pretty predictable coming out of the west each of the four rounds and averaging just in the 5-10 mph range. The highest chance of storms will be the opening round on Thursday, but other than that we should see plenty of sunshine and temperatures extending into the low-80s. That being said, even in perfect conditions Le Golf National is still a brute as evidence by an average winning score of just 10-under-par since 2010 in the Open de France.
Recent Champions
2020 Tokyo Olympics - Xander Schauffele (Gold), Rory Sabbatini (Silver), C.T. Pan (Bronze)
2016 Rio Olympics - Justin Rose (Gold), Henrik Stenson (Silver), Matt Kuchar (Bronze)
Key Stats to Victory
- SG: Approach/GIR Percentage
- SG: Off-the-Tee/Driving Accuracy
- SG: Putting/Three-Putt Avoidance
- Bogey Avoidance
Champion's Profile
Le Golf National is certainly a course you have to tactfully work your way around. Birdies can be made with quality shots, but big numbers are very easy to pile up as well if players are a little off, particularly off the tee. This rough is going to be nasty and if you get in it players need to be careful not to try to get too much out of it. A player can choose to leave driver in the bag on a lot of occasions around here to try to put an emphasis on finding the short grass. There are also six par-4s that measure under 420 yards in length. Precision and putting wins out around Le Golf National over power as the Americans found out in the Ryder Cup back in 2018. The greens are quite large, but some of the slopes are also quite severe. We don't know exactly how fast they will be running, but they are normally pretty slick during the Open de France. Lag putting will be crucial and players will certainly have a number of putts each round from 50+ feet they need to get down in two. The challenges created by this course will give all 60 players in the field a legit chance to battle for a medal.
FanDuel Value Picks
The Chalk
Scottie Scheffler ($13,000)
Leading the Americans this week is Scheffler who would love to add a gold medal to this incredible 2024 season that has included a Masters and PLAYERS Championship win amongst his six total titles. Le Golf National has a lot of similarities to Florida courses in that it is flat, features a lot of water and has thick rough. Scheffler has certainly been terrific in Florida scoring two wins at both Bay Hill and TPC Sawgrass in the last three years. He's putted great for the last several months other than the U.S. Open and Open Championship.
Xander Schauffele ($12,100)
The defending gold medalist is the hottest player in the world with wins in two of the last three majors. He also has not finished outside the top 25 in his last 14 starts and hasn't missed a cut since early 2022. Schauffele's strokes gained across the board is incredible. Every facet of his game is in that elite range. It would truly be shocking if he was not up there Sunday with a chance at it.
Collin Morikawa ($11,600)
It would be very difficult to do, but I would not put it past these three to sweep podium for the Americans this week. Morikawa is coming off his 11th straight top-25 finish at the Open, five of which were top-four results. He is the most accurate off the tee of all the elite players combined with his stellar iron play. The difference for Morikawa of late has been the short game and putting. He ranks top-15 in SG: Around-the-Green, scrambling, putts per GIR, three-putt avoidance and bogey avoidance.
The Middle Tier
Alex Noren ($10,300)
Noren has found as much success as anyone in this field around Le Golf National, racking up five top-20 finishes in his last six starts at the course, including a victory in 2018. Noren is also coming off back-to-back top-15s at the Scottish and Open Championships. He ranks third in bogey avoidance and third in par-4 scoring average this season. The 42-year-old is also 16th in SG: Tee-to-Green with a terrific short game.
Corey Conners ($10,200)
Le Golf National is the perfect type of venue for a ball-striking maestro like Conners. He ranks 15th in total driving, fourth in SG: Approach and 11th in GIR percentage this season. The Canadian has also finished T27 or better in his last nine starts with all types of different style courses mixed in there. The putting and short game is the one thing you always want to keep an eye on with Conners, but he has gained strokes on the greens in four of his last six starts and around the greens in five of his last six.
Sepp Straka ($9,700)
Straka has been a favorite of mine all season, and while he's fallen off a little bit after racking up five top-11 finishes in a six-start stretch he is the ideal fit for this venue. Straka has gained strokes on approach in 10 of his last 11 starts and leads the PGA Tour in driving accuracy. That certainly raises his floor quite a bit and clearly he's shown the upside to compete with some of the big names in this top-heavy event.
The Long Shots
Christiaan Bezuidenhout ($8,800)
It wasn't a great two-week stretch in Scotland, but his form the last several months before that speaks for itself racking up six top-10s and 14 top-25s in 21 starts. Bezuidenhout certainly has the combination of iron play and putting you are looking for ranking 44th in SG: Approach, 20th in proximity, 11th in SG: Putting and third in three-putt avoidance. Bez is also 11th in scrambling and third in par-4 scoring average this season.
Matteo Manassero ($8,000)
The career resurgence for the 31-year-old has been great to see in 2024. Manassero won in South African in March and then reeled off a stretch that included four top-10s and seven top-25s in 12 starts on the DP World Tour. The Italian is an elite iron player ranking eighth on the DPWT in SG: Approach. He is also sixth in SG: Around-the-Green. That combination certainly will help keep the bogeys off the scorecard.
Kevin Yu ($7,800)
Chinese Taipei won a medal last Olympics and Yu will be looking follow in Pan's footsteps. He's had an up-and-down year on the PGA Tour with nine missed cuts but also four top-10s. One thing that is always consistent with Yu, however, is his ball striking. He ranks 12th in SG: Off-the-Tee, 24th in SG: Approach and seventh in GIR percentage. The putting is always the question mark with Yu, but with such a weak bottom part of the field you won't find a better ball striker on what is a very demanding course.
Strategy Tips This Week
Based on a Standard $60K Salary Cap
Based on the qualifying format for this limited-field no-cut event (sound familiar?), this is one of the biggest gaps from top half of the field to bottom half of the field that we will ever see. The top half of the field is your typical guys that are competing for PGA Tour wins week in and week out, while the bottom half has a lot of players that compete in all different types of tours. I think you can only really afford to grab one of the "Big 3" of Scheffler, Schauffele and McIlroy to avoid having to go way down towards the bottom of this 60-man field. The good news is that the $10K range is extremely strong, and honestly from a strategy standpoint starting there instead could end up yielding big results. Having each player guaranteed 72 holes does allow for more risk to be taken, but I wouldn't go overboard. Le Golf National asks a lot and loading up on players who keep it in the fairways and are very strong with their irons is the easiest way to raise your floor. If you can find a few who are also trending with the putter that's a real bonus.
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