Olympic Games 2024: Form stats for this week's men's golf tournament in Paris

• Undulating fairways and slick putting surfaces

• Powerful American quartet in Paris

• Noren, Rahm & Niemann strong medal candidates

Course Notes

• It's a busy few months for Parisian course Le Golf National, which stages two important tournaments in the space of 10 weeks. This week, the course will host the men's event at the 2024 Olympic Games and, in mid-October, will be the venue for the French Open;

• In addition to hosting 29 national opens on the DP World Tour since 1991, Le Golf National was also the venue for the 2018 Ryder Cup. However, none of the four players representing the United States this week were members of the team that lost 17½-10½ to Europe six years ago;

• Located around 15 miles south-west of Paris city centre, Le Golf National is a modern stadium course with plenty of water and sand, but very few trees. Opening for business on October 5th, 1990, the course wasted little time in hosting the French Open for the first time - just eight months later;

• Water hazards of various descriptions come into play on nine holes, while the fairways are beautifully contoured, with numerous peaks and hollows. The rough is usually heavy, while the putting surfaces are large, slick and undulating. Accuracy, from tee-to-green, is certainly the name of the game at this venue. The testing Albatros course at Le Golf National has a capacity for 80,000 spectators.

Olympic Qualification

The field comprises of 60 players, with qualification based on World Ranking positions following the completion of June's US Open.

The top 15 players in the Ranking were eligible to compete, although there was a limit of four golfers from any one country.

This meant that the following American pros were unable to take part: Patrick Cantlay, Bryson DeChambeau, Brian Harman, Sahith Theegala and Max Homa.

No other nation had more than one player inside the top 15. Outside of the top 15, the remaining slots went to the highest-ranked players from countries that did not already have two golfers qualified.

Countries that didn't have either three or four pros qualifying from inside the top 15 are only permitted a maximum of two. A handful of qualified golfers chose not to compete.

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On The Tee ...

Scottie Scheffler 7/24.50 may be the clear world No 1, but the man of the moment is his American compatriot Xander Schauffele (No 2) 11/26.50, the winner of two major titles during the past 12 weeks.

Schauffele arrives in Paris fresh from winning The Open Championship two weeks ago, which followed on from his triumph at Valhalla (PGA Championship) in mid-May.

Add Collin Morikawa (No 6) 12/113.00 and Wyndham Clark (No 5) 55/156.00 into the mix and it's easy to see why all four US golfers are ready to challenge for the prestigious title of Olympic men's golf champion 2024.

Schauffele is also the defending champion, having won gold in Tokyo in 2021.

So which other pros are also expected to challenge for the three medals

While the American contingent look strong, their one disadvantage is that none of them have competed over Le Golf National previously.

This is the one area where long-term members of the DP World Tour may have an edge. Rory McIlroy 17/29.50 will be hoping that the Olympics will provide some sort of golden consolation, following another disappointing year without a major title.

Since 2008, McIlroy has competed in three French Opens at Le Golf National, as well as the Ryder Cup. In addition to standing on the podium eight years ago, he also tied-fourth in 2010.

Among the players who have won here previously is Tommy Fleetwood 20/121.00.

However, the Englishman does have a strange Le Golf National history. His record in French Opens at the course reads: Starts 6; Wins 1, MCs 5. But he did triumph in four of his five matches at the 2018 Ryder Cup.

Three others to consider are Jon Rahm 10/111.00, Joaquin Niemann 25/126.00 and Alexander Noren 30/131.00.

Rahm and Niemann have enjoyed strong seasons on the Saudi-backed LIV Tour. As recently as Sunday, Rahm won their latest event in Staffordshire where Niemann tied-for-second.

Rahm, who tied-seventh at Royal Troon earlier this month, has finished inside the top-10 in all 10 of his LIV Tour starts this year.

He currently holds second spot in the overall LIV standings for 2024, trailing only Niemann who has won twice.

The Chilean has posted three other podium finishes this season.

And don't forget Noren, who is a former champion at Le Golf National. The Swede's most recent start came at Royal Troon where he tied-13th.

Approximately half of this week's field will be competing over Le Golf National for the first time.

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World Ranking Points

Most Points Since January 1st, 2024
Pts
598.77: Scottie Scheffler
389.85: Xander Schauffele
250.80: Rory McIlroy
195.70: Wyndham Clark
185.31: Collin Morikawa
182.12: Ludvig Aberg
148.45: Hideki Matsuyama
146.21: Matthieu Pavon
116.50: Byeong Hun An
108.13: Tommy Fleetwood
106.25: Shane Lowry
102.12: Christiaan Bezuidenhout
Only those entered this week are included in table Note:

List Contains Leading Reserves

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