Re-Popping Scottie Scheffler To Win Gold In Paris Summer Olympics Golf Following Round 2
Honestly, I don't give a sh*t about the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics. The only events I've seen are Team USA basketball and the Olympic Golf tournament. The older I get, the less interested I am in sports that don't have a betting component. Sure, you can bet on the Olympics. But, I'd rather save my money for football season than do the homework required to make an informed wager on these boring sports.
Believe it or not, golf is the best gambling event at the Paris Summer Olympics. The tournament features Team USA's Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele, Ireland's Rory McIlroy, Spain's Jon Rahm, and Japan's Hideki Matsuyama. The Olympic Golf tournament is a four-round, individual stroke-play, no-cut event, so we'll see these guys play on the weekend.
I'm in pretty good shape from a betting perspective going into the final two rounds. A Matsuyama "Winner Without Xander Schauffele And Scottie Scheffler" (+2200) ticket is on my card, along with Xander finishing inside the top five (+100). However, my big bet is for Scottie to win the Olympic Gold (+400). He sits five strokes off the lead, chasing World No. 2 Schauffele.
Paris Summer Olympics Golf Notable Betting Odds Post-Round 2 (FanDuel)
- Xander Schauffele, USA (+175)
- Tommy Fleetwood, England (+400)
- Jon Rahm, Spain (+550)
- Hideki Matsuyama, Japan (+600)
- SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER, USA (+1200)
- Tom Kim, South Korea (+2000)
- Thomas Detry, Belgium (+3300)
- Rory McIlroy, Ireland (+3300)
- Joaquin Niemann, Chile (+5000)
- C.T. Pan, Chinese Taipei (+8000)
- Guido Migliozzi, Italy (+8000)
- Collin Morikawa, USA (+9000)
- Ludvig Åberg, Sweden (+11000)
According to DataGolf.com, Scheffler is fourth in Strokes Gained (SG): Tee-to-Green through the first two rounds of the Olympic Golf event. His old crappy putting ways have resurfaced though and Scottie has lost 2.66 strokes on the greens. Scheffler could easily be -9 after 36 holes, tying him for fourth with Rahm.
I'm part-hopeful, part-confident Scottie will start knocking down some putts. Scheffler gained strokes with his putter in 11 of 16 starts this year, including in his wins at The Masters and THE PLAYERS Championship, per DataGolf.com. In the second round, Scottie rallied from a double bogey on the seventh hole to shoot a -2.
Scottie Scheffler lines up a putt in Round 2 of the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at Le Golf National. (Michael Madrid-USA TODAY Sports)
That double bogey wasn't the result of a comedy of errors but rather an errant tee shot. Scheffler had a terrible lie in the deep rough of the seventh fairway. His second shot went 14 feet, two inches, and the third traveled 191 yards. After hitting the green, 22 feet from the hole, with his fourth shot, Scottie eventually two-putt, and the damage was done.
Regardless, that's the only bad hole Scheffler has played in this tournament. His fairway-hit rate is 82.1% through the first two rounds, tying him for first with Morikawa, according to DataGolf.com. Scottie is gaining strokes off-the-tee (OTT), on approach (APP), and around-the-green (ARG) at the Olympics.
Albeit chasing Xander, who's won two majors this season (The 152nd Open and PGA Championships), and 2022 Masters champion, Rahm, is scary. That said, my current "fair price" for Scottie winning the Olympic Golf tournament is 6-to-1, and we are getting double those odds.
Since I think -2 is the worst round we'll see from the best player in the world and I'm in a position to win two of my other Paris Summer Olympic Golf bets, I'm willing to re-pop on SCHEFFLER TO WIN THE GOLD MEDAL (+1200) for a quarter-unit.
Matthew Fitzpatrick (-120) over Thomas Detry in Round 3 at FanDuel
This is another "price play". Detry is having a slightly better season on the PGA TOUR, but Fitzpatrick is clearly the superior player. Fitzpatrick is two years younger (31-2) with two PGA TOUR wins, including the 2022 U.S. Open, eight wins on the DP World Tour, and two Ryder Cup appearances. Detry doesn't have any PGA TOUR or DP World Tour victories.
THE PLAYERS Championship and the Memorial Tournament are played at comp courses to Le Golf National in France. Despite his "down-year", Fitzpatrick tied for fifth at the Memorial in June and finished solo fifth at THE PLAYERS in March. Whereas Detry was T41 at the Memorial and T62 at THE PLAYERS.
Plus, according to DataGolf.com, Fitzpatrick is gaining strokes in the four most important golf stats at the Paris Olympics (OTT, APP, ARG, and Putting). Entering Saturday, Detry is -8 and Fitzpatrick is -5. Both sucked in the first round. Detry was even-par and Fitzpatrick shot +2, before getting it back Friday.
It's been hot in Paris for these Olympics, so Le Golf National will get firmer, faster, and tougher this weekend. If the scoring conditions are tougher, give me Fitzpatrick, who is the better player. Finally, because I'm a losing golf bettor this year, I'm only betting to win a half-unit on FITZPATRICK (-120) OVER DETRY in Round 3 of the Paris Summer Olympic Golf tournament.
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