Xander Schauffele speaks ahead of the Men’s Stroke Play Competition at the Olympics. | Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
Sixty players will tee it up at Le Golf National this week in Paris, hoping to bring home a gold medal. Here are our top 25.
Sixty players from around the world will tee it up this week at Le Golf National, the course that hosted the 2018 Ryder Cup and the site of this week’s Olympic Men’s Golf Competition.
Similar to PGA Tour events, players will play 72 holes of individual stroke play to determine who will take home the Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals for men’s golf. The Hubert Chesneau and Robert von Hagge design will also host the 60 best female players next week, utilizing the same format with three medals on the line.
Scottie Scheffler arrives in Paris as the favorite, but Xander Schauffele, fresh off his historic victory at Royal Troon a couple of weeks ago, is another head-liner who can surely take home the Gold. After all, Schauffele won Gold at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Other favorites include Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm, the latter of which won a LIV Golf event for the first time last week. McIlroy, meanwhile, most recently missed the cut at The Open.
Alas, here are the top 25 players in this week’s competition, ranked by who has the best chance of taking home a Gold medal. Players 26 through 60 follow thereafter.
Photo By Brendan Moran/Getty Images
Xander Schauffele during a practice round ahead of the Olympics Competition at Le Golf National.
25. Christiaan Bezuidenhout (South Africa)
The 30-year-old from Delmas, South Africa, withdrew from the Scottish Open due to an undisclosed injury and then missed the cut at The Open. Hopefully, Bezuidenhout, who ranks 17th in overall strokes gained on the PGA Tour, is healthy by now.
24. Ryan Fox (New Zealand)
Ryan Fox has not missed a cut since early May, when he failed to make the weekend at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson. Four top-25 finishes have followed since then, including a T-4 in Myrtle Beach and a T-7 in Canada. He tied for 25th at Royal Troon last week, as Fox has proven himself in big-field events before. He won the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth last September.
23. Thomas Detry (Belgium)
Similar to Fox, Detry’s last MC came at the CJ Byron Nelson, with his best finish since then being a T-4 at the PGA Championship. He most recently tied for 26th at the Scottish Open, as the Belgian will have to rely on his putting prowess to contend in Paris.
22. Nicolai Højgaard (Denmark)
One of the best and most exciting young players in the game, Nicolai Højgaard, looks destined to win big tournaments in the future. His short game and his putting need work, as he has not recorded a top-20 finish since The Masters, but the 23-year-old Dane has the talent to make some noise in Paris.
21. Stephan Jaeger (Germany)
Stephan Jaeger relied on his short game to fend off Scottie Scheffler to win the Texas Children’s Houston Open in March, but he has struggled to replicate that success since then. Jaeger has missed his last two cuts.
20. Wyndham Clark (United States)
Justin Leonard, Keita Nakajima, Dan Bradbury, Guntaek Koh, Todd Hamilton, and Aguri Iwasaki are the only players who finished worse than Wyndham Clark at this year’s Open Championship. After posting two straight missed cuts and a T-56 at the U.S. Open, Clark looked to have rebounded with back-to-back top 10s in Connecticut and Scotland. But his game abandoned him at Royal Troon. Maybe he will bounce back this week in Paris.
19. Min Woo Lee (Australia)
One of the most electric players in the game, Min Woo Lee struggled to get accustomed to links golf, finishing in solo 73rd at the Scottish Open and missing the cut at The Open. Before that, he tied for second at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. With links golf in his rearview mirror, perhaps Lee vies for a medal in Paris.
Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images
Jason Day and Min Woo Lee pose for a photo during a practice round.
18. Sepp Straka (Austria)
Sepp Straka has hit the fairway 72% of the time this season, ranking first on the PGA Tour in driving accuracy. The former Georgia Bulldog keeps it in play off the tee, but his short game and approach play have let him down at times. Still, he has four top 10s this season.
17. Byeong Hun An (South Korea)
One of the longer players on the PGA Tour, Byeong Hun An, most recently tied for 13th at The Open. He also posted back-to-back top-five finishes in May, but he missed the cut in back-to-back starts at the U.S. Open and Scottish Open. So who knows which game will show up this week.
16. Jason Day (Australia)
Jason Day ranks 7th on the PGA Tour in strokes gained putting this year, but 147th in strokes gained: approaching the green. He is typically a much better ball striker than that, but his iron play has forbidden him from seriously contending this season.
15. Tom Kim (South Korea)
Tom Kim has had mixed results over the past month, but the 21-year-old from Seoul most recently missed the cut at The Open Championship. He does not have much length but keeps the ball in play, a necessity for Le Golf National.
14. Alex Noren (Sweden)
Back-to-back strong finishes in the British Isles, a T-13 and a T-10, respectively, have Noren trending in the right direction. The 42-year-old Swede has a phenomenal short game and is a terrific ball striker, so do not be surprised if he vies for a medal this week.
Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
Jon Rahm and Alex Noren shake hands after the final round of The 152nd Open.
13. Matt Fitzpatrick (Great Britain)
The 2022 U.S. Open champion has not missed a cut dating back to the PGA Championship, but he has not factored into each of his five starts since then. He did tie for 5th at the Memorial, but he posted a final round 69—the only sub-70 round of the day—to post a back door top-five. Fitzy is still a threat week in and week out, however.
12. Tommy Fleetwood (Great Britain)
A popular pick to win this year’s Open at Royal Troon, Tommy Fleetwood’s game completely unraveled, and he missed the cut. But an important note about Fleetwood this week is that he dominated Le Golf National in 2018, posting a 4-1-0 record to help the Europeans trounce the Americans that year in France.
11. Hideki Matsuyama (Japan)
Hideki Matsuyama’s putter completely abandoned him in the British Isles at the Scottish Open and The Open, which explains why he missed the cut and then tied for 66th. But prior to that, he posted six top-25s in eight starts. Luckily for him, Le Golf National is not links golf.
10. Corey Conners (Canada)
You can call him ‘The Consistent Canadian’ because he has yet to miss a cut in 2024. Conners has finished no worse than 44th since the Genesis Invitational in February. He is one of the best ball-strikers on the PGA Tour, and a podium finish would be well deserved and well received by the Great White North.
9. Shane Lowry (Ireland)
Shane Lowry looked like he would run away with The Open until a double-bogey five at The Postage Stamp brought him back to the field on Saturday. Three straight top-20 finishes has the Irishman trending nicely.
8. Viktor Hovland (Norway)
Viktor Hovland’s ceiling is as high as any player, but he has yet to come close to that apex in 2024. Perhaps he finds something in France and bounces back after a missed cut at The Open, his third missed cut in a major this season.
7. Joaquin Niemann (Chile)
The Chilean has finished in the top 10 in his last three starts on LIV Golf and then contended at The Open before an eight on The Postage Stamp did him in on Friday. He battled his way back into the mix, but a nine at The Railway sent him barreling down the leaderboard on Saturday. He played much better than his T-58.
Photo by Bradley Collyer/Getty Images
Joaquin Niemann during the LIV Golf event in Great Britain.
6. Ludvig Åberg (Sweden)
Missing the cut at Royal Troon came as a surprise, but this year’s Open marked Åberg’s debut in golf’s oldest major, a tournament that requires some links-golf experience. Alas, the young Swede has had a terrific season, and seeing him on the podium would surprise nobody.
5. Collin Morikawa (United States)
Collin Morikawa has not finished outside the top 25 in any tournament since before The Masters, where he found something in his swing at the Tournament Practice Area. Whatever he discovered paid off, although he has yet to win in 2024. Maybe he will capture Gold this week.
4. Jon Rahm (Spain)
Fresh off his first career LIV Golf win in the United Kingdom, Jon Rahm heads to Paris with a healthy dose of confidence and a renowned swagger. He also turned in a solid performance at Troon, a testament that his game is back in top-tier form.
3. Rory McIlroy (Ireland)
A disappointing 36 holes at Royal Troon was an outlier for McIlroy, who arrived at The Open with back-to-back top-five finishes at the Scottish and U.S. Opens. Of course, his heartbreak at Pinehurst No. 2 still stings, but a gold medal would make up for it… somewhat.
2. Scottie Scheffler (United States)
For the first time in a while, the current World No. 1 does not sit atop a set of rankings, but that should not deter Scheffler from vying for his first career medal. He has six wins this season, including one at Augusta National, and nobody plays better from tee to green than Scheffler. He will be a factor this week.
1. Xander Schauffele (United States)
Fresh off his historic march to victory at Royal Troon, Xander Schauffele arrives in Paris looking for a second straight Olympic Gold Medal in the Olympics. Nobody has better form right now than Schauffele.
Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
Xander Schauffele kisses the Claret Jug after his victory at Royal Troon.
Players ranked 60 through 25:
60. Tapio Pulkkanen (Finland)
59. Joel Girrbach (Switzerland)
58. Fabrizio Zanotti (Paraguay)
57. Dou Zecheng (China)
56. Phachara Khongwatmai (Thailand)
55. Kristoffer Ventura (Norway)
54. Gaganjeet Bhullar (India)
53. Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Thailand)
52. Gavin Green (Malaysia)
51. Rafael Campos (Puerto Rico)
50. Daniel Hillier (New Zealand)
49. Yuan Yechun (China)
48. Shubhankar Sharma (India)
47. Daniel Hillier (New Zealand)
46. Guido Migliozzi (Italy)
45. Adrien Dumont de Chassart (Belgium)
44. Matteo Manassero (Italy)
43. Mito Pereria (Chile)
42. Camilo Villegas (Colombia)
41. Matti Schmid (Germany)
40. Abraham Ancer (Mexico)
39. Kevin Yu (Taipei)
38. C.T. Pan (Taipei)
37. David Puig (Spain)
36. Sami Valimaki (Finland)
35. Alejandro Tosti (Argentina)
34. Carlos Ortiz (Mexico)
33. Thorbjørn Olesen (Denmark)
32. Matthieu Pavon (France)
31. Keita Nakajima (Japan)
30. Victor Perez (France)
29. Emiliano Grillo (Argentina)
28. Erik van Rooyen (South Africa)
27. Nick Taylor (Canada)
26. Adrian Meronk (Poland)
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
