Who Are The Favorites To Win Gold In The 2024 Olympic Golf Competition?

With plenty of top names participating in the men's and women's 2024 Olympic golf competition, who is likely to pick up a gold medal at Le Golf National?

Gold medal next to images of Scottie Scheffler and Nelly Korda, favorites for the Olympics Golf Event
Who will win Olympic gold at Le Golf National in Paris?
(Image credit: Getty Images)

This August, 120 of the world’s finest male and female golfers will tee it up at Le Golf National, Paris, to compete for Olympic Gold. It’s a once-every-four-years chance for players to represent their country and stand atop an Olympic podium. 

Both men’s and women’s events have been growing steadily in importance and stature since golf's return to the Olympic schedule in 2016. Much like it has in tennis, the significance of Olympic Gold has increased in the minds of both the golf-viewing public and the players themselves. 

Nelly Korda and Xander Schauffele, two recent Major winners, go into the tournaments in Paris as defending champions but a host of star players from across the globe will be hoping to deny them the chance to pick up second Golds...

Who Are The Betting Favorites To Win The Gold Medal In Men's Golf At The 2024 Olympics?

  • Scottie Scheffler (USA) - 4/1
  • Xander Schauffele (USA) - 6/1
  • Rory McIlroy (IRL) - 9/1
  • Ludvig Aberg (SWE) - 12/1
  • Jon Rahm (ESP) - 12/1
  • Collin Morikawa (USA) - 14/1
  • Tommy Fleetwood (GBR) - 20/1

Who Are The Betting Favorites To Win The Gold Medal In Women's Golf At The 2024 Olympics?

  • Nelly Korda (USA) - 6/1
  • Atthaya Thitikul (THA) - 8/1
  • Lilia Vu (USA) - 9/1
  • Jin Young Ko (KOR) - 14/1
  • Ayaka Furue (JPN) - 16/1
  • Brooke Henderson (CAN) - 18/1
  • Rose Zhang (USA) - 18/1

Who Are The Likely Contenders In The Men's Olympic Golf Competition?

Scottie Scheffler at the Open Championship 2024

Scottie Scheffler will fancy his chances of adding a gold medal to his six victory haul this season...

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Scottie Scheffler – The World No.1 is favourite in every tournament he tees it up in just now. At the time of writing, his worst finish in his last ten starts had been a tie for 10th and he’s won four times this year, including The Masters.

Xander Schauffele – The US PGA champion had also been in red-hot form at the time of writing. Schauffele is an excellent iron player and brilliant ball-striker. As mentioned previously, those are skills that will serve a player very well at this venue.

Rory McIlroy – He's just a brilliant natural talent. He was disappointed to narrowly miss out on a medal for Ireland last time in Japan and he will want to fill that gap on his impressive golfing CV.

Tommy Fleetwood – He won the 2017 Open de France around this layout and also enjoyed a great Ryder Cup at Le Golf National in 2018, scoring four points from his five matches. 

Matthieu Pavon – He will be hoping to delight the French crowds and secure a home win. He’s enjoyed strong results on the PGA Tour this year, including a victory at Torrey Pines. 

Who Are The Likely Contenders In The Women's Olympic Golf Competition?

Nelly Korda after hitting a tee shot

Nelly Korda will be defending her gold medal from Tokyo and also arrives with six victories to her name in 2024...

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Nelly Korda – The American is dominating women’s golf right now. She currently has more than double the Rolex Ranking points of second-placed Lilia Vu. She had won six of her last eight starts at the time of writing and will start favourite at Le Golf National to defend her Olympic title.

Celine Boutier – Currently ranked 3rd in the world after a stellar 2023, French star Boutier will (like Pavon) receive huge support from the home fans. The reigning Evian champion would undoubtedly be an extremely popular winner.

Rose Zhang – The 21-year-old former World Amateur No.1 is an exceptional talent. She won her very first tournament as a professional and recently won again on the LPGA Tour.

Charley Hull – The Englishwoman was tied 7th in the Rio Olympics and will be looking to get on the podium this time out. A powerful player, her game should be well suited to Le Golf National.

Lydia Ko – She’s been a medallist in both Rio and Tokyo but hasn’t stood on the top step of the podium. She’d love to rectify that in Paris. She hasn’t been at the absolute top of her game recently, but she has the skills to pull a winning performance out of the bag when it matters most.

Fergus Bisset
Contributing Editor

Fergus is Golf Monthly's resident expert on the history of the game and has written extensively on that subject. He is a golf obsessive and 1-handicapper. Growing up in the North East of Scotland, golf runs through his veins and his passion for the sport was bolstered during his time at St Andrews university studying history. He went on to earn a post graduate diploma from the London School of Journalism. Fergus has worked for Golf Monthly since 2004 and has written two books on the game; "Great Golf Debates" together with Jezz Ellwood of Golf Monthly and the history section of "The Ultimate Golf Book" together with Neil Tappin , also of Golf Monthly. 

Fergus once shanked a ball from just over Granny Clark's Wynd on the 18th of the Old Course that struck the St Andrews Golf Club and rebounded into the Valley of Sin, from where he saved par. Who says there's no golfing god?

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