The Punter's Olympics In-Play Blog: Major winners tied at the top in Paris

• Schauffele still heads the market with a round to go

• Cream has risen to the top at Le Golf National

• Tom Kim chanced at a big price

17:15 - August 3, 2024

The third round of the Olympics men's Golf event at Le Golf National has just finished and the leaderboard is jam-packed with quality. Here's the 54-hole leaderboard with prices to back at 17:10

Xander Schauffele -14 2.942/1
Jon Rahm -14 3.3512/5
Tommy Fleetwood -13 6.86/1
Hideki Matsuyama -11 26.025/1
Nicolai Hojgaard -11 46.045/1
Scottie Scheffler -10 18.5
Rory McIlroy-10 23.022/1
Tom Kim -10 55.054/1
Thomas Detry -10 100.099/1
Ludvig Aberg -9 90.089/1
Joaquin Niemann -9 140.0139/1
Jason Day -9 200.0199/1
-8 and 600.0599/1 bar

I highlighted yesterday just how far back the winners can come from at this venue at the halfway stage and it's been a very similar story after three rounds at the Open de France - a DP World Tour event that's staged here every year.

As many as ten of the last 13 54-hole leaders have been beaten at the Open de France so converting from the front is tough at Le Golf National and we've seen winners come from some way back with a round to go.

Jordan Smith, who was matched at just 1.111/9, led by six after two holes of round two in last year's Open de France but he went on to finish tied for second and a year earlier, Rasmus Hojgaard had led by eight strokes after he'd finished his second round on Friday morning, but he also finished second.

We've seen winners here come from two, three, four, five and seven adrift and when Graeme McDowell defended the Open de France title ten years ago, he trailed by eight with a round to go. Whether someone can come from way back to get past this elite leaderboard is debatable though.

Having backed Jon Rahm before the off and Rory McIlroy yesterday, I've got a couple of live chances going into round four and I'm happy to add two more.

Korea's Tom Kim needs to secure a medal to avoid national service and I thought that might be too big a deal to make him a value play before the off at 32.031/1 but trailing by just four with just one round to go, I'm happy to chance him at around twice that price.

He could easily bomb out tomorrow given how much is on the line but if he does get hot and he looks like securing at least a bronze, he might just relax over the tough finishing stretch and post a score.

Jason Day trails by five so he needs to get his skates on but 200.0199/1 is just a bit too big given the sort of dramas we've witnessed here in the past.

If you're planning to trade in-running in round four, bear in mind that it's a really difficult finish and posting a score and waiting for the rest to fail has often been the way the Open de France title has been decided.

Previously a par five, the 18^th is the hardest hole on the course this week (as expected) and after the par five 14^th, it's a tough finish all round. If your fancy is in front with four to play you might want to bank some profit and safely in the house will have a distinct advantage over anyone on the same score with holes to play.

That may seem obvious, but the market always favours those still on the course, with optimistic punters imagining birdies, but in reality, playing the last four holes here in level-par is a great finish.

19:50 - August 2, 2024

The first-round leader, Hideki Matsuyama, was matched at a low of 4.67/2 after back-to-back birdies at 16 and 17 saw him edge clear of the remainder in today's second round at the Olympics but a double-bogey six at the last saw him end the day tied for the lead with two others.

Playing partner, Tommy Fleetwood, made huge move to end the day alongside Matsuyama, despite bogeying the tricky 18^th (shot seven-under-par) and that duo are alongside the reigning champion, Xander Schauffele. Here's the 36-hole leaderboard with prices to back at 19:40.

Xander Schauffele -11 3.185/40
Tommy Fleetwood -11 5.85/1
Hideki Matsuyama -11 7.413/2
Jon Rahm -9 6.411/2
Tom Kim -8 24.023/1
Thomas Detry -8 38.037/1
C.T Pan -8 100.099/1
Guido Migliozzi -7 95.094/1
Stephan Jaeger -7 190.0189/1
Scottie Scheffler -6 14.013/1
Joakin Niemann -6 55.054/1
Erik Van Rooyen -6 370.0369/1
Rory McIlroy-5 46.045/1
-5 and 130.0129/1 bar

The leaderboard is dominated by four top-class performers, but funny things can happen at this golf course, and it wouldn't be a huge surprise to see things change dramatically tomorrow.

Looking back at the Open de France, which is staged at this week's venue, Le Golf National, each year, two of the last six winners were in front at halfway and Pablo Larrazabal won the event wire-to-wire back in 2008, but plenty of victors have come from some way off the pace.

Last year's Open de France winner, Ryo Hisatsune, trailed by five strokes at halfway, as did the 2005 winner, Jean-Francois Remesy, but five of the last 12 winners have been even further back at halfway.

We've seen winners trail by as many as seven, eight (twice), nine, and even 13 strokes after 36 holes!

Making ground up this week might be tough with no rain forecasted. The course will dry out as the weekend wares on and that will make scoring more difficult but given the history of off the pace winners here, I was more than happy to chance a couple of top-class players that are trailing by six strokes at halfway - Rory McIlroy at 46.045/1 and Matt Fitzpatrick at 260.0259/1.

08:00 - August 2, 2024

Ryan Fox, who shot a four-under-par 67 in round one to sit tied for sixth, was trading at less than 100.099/1 yesterday but he's drifted overnight to a price I thought worth chancing.

The Kiwi, who is one of just four men in the field to have now appeared in all three editions in the modern era (Gavin Green, Fabrizio Zanotti and C.T. Pan are the other three), is no bigger than 66/167.00 on the High Street so the 120.0119/1 availbale on the Exchange this morning looks far too big.

Fox has played at Le Golf National five times previously so he has plenty of course experience and although he's missed his last two cuts here, he finished sixth on his Open de France debut back in 2017, despite opening up with a 73 in round one.

19:50 - August 1, 2024

With a strong record in his homeland, Hideki Matsuyama was a 14/115.00 chance to win Olympic gold in Tokyo three years ago and he was matched at as short as 2/13.00 during the fourth and final round before ultimately falling short of the medal positions. He finished tied fourth.

He's one of the 30 players in the 60-strong field this week not to have played Le Golf National before but his near miss three years ago appears to have inspired the Japanese and after a stop-start first day, due to lightening in the area, the pre-event 55.054/1 chance leads the field by two following an impressive eight-under-par 63 opening round.

Three more rounds to claim Olympic glory.#OlympicGolf pic.twitter.com/bUm6ODfWsi

-- Olympic Golf (@OlympicGolf) August 1, 2024

Matsuyama may have posted the lowest score of the day but it's the defending champion and world number two, Xander Schauffele, that heads the market, after he returned to the course following the first interruption to par the last and post a six-under-par 65.

Schauffele heads the market over world number one, Scottie Scheffler, who shot a four-under-par 67.

That was matched by my pre-event pick, Jon Rahm, despite the Spaniard finding water off the tee on the par three 16^th, and I've had a little top-up at 12/113.00.

That's the same price I took before the off and given he has a nice early start tomorrow, I thought that was more than fair.

I didn't have much luck with my only other pre-tournament pick, Wyndham Clark, who managed to find water off the tee on each of his first three holes!

Pre-Event Picks
Jon Rahm @ 13.012/1
Wyndham Clark @ 110.0109/1

In-Play Picks
Ryan Fox @ 120.0119/1
Rory McIlroy @ 46.045/1
Matt Fitzpatrick @ 260.0259/1
Tom Kim @ 60.059/1
Jason Day @ 200.0199/1

*You can follow me on Twitter @SteveThePunter