Going For The Gold: 2024 Paris Olympics Golf DFS Picks
- Field: 60 Players
- Cut: No Cut
- First Tee: Thursday, August 1st
- Defending Medalists:
- Gold: Xander Schauffele
- Silver: Roy Sabbatini
- Bronze: CT Pan
Golf is returning to the Olympics for the 3rd time in as many summer games. This year we turn our sights to Le Golf National, specifically the Albatros course. Located in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, just southwest of Paris, this prestigious course is renowned for its challenging layout and world-class facilities. The Albatros course, designed by Hubert Chesneau and Robert Von Hagge, is celebrated for its strategic design, incorporating natural elements such as water hazards and undulating fairways, making it a test similar to that of the Links Style golf we have seen recently on the PGA Tour.
The Albatros course, a 7174 yard, Par 71 venue, is ideal for the Olympic Games due to its difficulty and beauty. Since opening in 1990, it has hosted the French Open multiple times and the 2018 Ryder Cup, where Europe triumphed over the US. Like the par-4 18th with its water hazard, its signature holes promise exciting moments. Despite a rainy summer making the course softer, it remains a dramatic and demanding challenge for the athletes.
Given how infrequently we have seen this course, looking back for key statistics is challenging. We can take a look at the recent stats of the French Open for the DP World Tour for more information while also trying to learn about the 2018 Ryder Cup. Below are a few stats that I feel like could be useful to look at when it comes to choosing golfers for the weekend.
Driving Accuracy
There are a lot of things that go into the good drives stat. Distance is one, but I truly believe that distance doesn’t mean much at this course if you are inaccurate off the tee. The fairways here are narrow, the par-4 12th fairway narrows to only 10 yards wide around 315+ yards. Even if you decide to take less than driver off the tee, you still need to be accurate as the rough is expected to be almost 5 inches tall in some places. But wait, there’s more! This course has 16 water hazards strewn across it, bringing water into play on 10 of 18 holes. Narrow fairways, thick rough, and enough water to drown a fish means that driving accuracy is a must this week.
Bogey Avoidance
I don’t expect this week to be a birdie fest, looking back at the winners of the French Open shows us winners in the -10 to -15 range typically. Migliozzi won in 2022 at -16, marking the lowest winning score since 2000. With all the hazards I mentioned above and the lower expected scoring, bogey avoidance plays a more critical role than that of Birdie or Better percentage. You don’t have to birdie every hole here to win, but you can’t afford to make a bunch of bogies. Golfers that can figure out their way around the green and avoid bogies will definitely be in the running for a podium finish come Sunday.
SG: APP
Approach shots should average between 150 and 200 yards for the majority of the field. This course even has a handful of par-3s that land in this range. With smaller-than-average greens, a strong approach game is also crucial. Water is in play on as many as 8 greens on the course, really emphasizing the importance of a solid approach game this week.
This week we have a small field with only 60 golfers and the event is a no cut event. As a result, I plan on doing something similar to last week with my DFS picks. I’ve been looking at the pricing on Draftkings and found 4 players, all under $9K, that intrigue me. I don’t plan on playing all these players on the same roster, but will be overweight to the field for all of the players below!
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$8.8K – Hideki Matsuyama
This feels like a disrespectful price for Matsuyama. The former Masters winner is also a winner on the PGA tour THIS YEAR at The Genesis. Since his win at Riviera he has had 6 top 25 finishes and only one missed cut. He is one of the top approach and ARG players in this field while sitting around tour average in driving distance and accuracy. He has put poorly the last two tournaments he’s played in, which slightly scares me. Either way, Matsuyama is guaranteed four rounds and is priced below the likes of Hovland, Niemann, and Alex Noren. I am banking on the upside that Matsuyama clearly possesses this week.
$8.5K – Sepp Straka
I have backed Straka a couple of times this year and I have yet to get him right. I’m hoping that my read on him this time is right. His game seems tailor made for this course. Sepp is an uber-accurate driver of the ball with an approach game that is well above tour average. In this field, he ranks top 10 in Good Drives and Fairways hit, along with being top 20 in Approach. Coming in at 13th in course fit, I can see Straka finding his way onto the podium come the end of the weekend.
$7.4K – Guido Migliozzi
I am playing This one of those players, but you probably shouldn’t if you are risk-averse. If you don’t know, Guido is a 27-year-old Italian who plays nearly all of his golf on the European Tour. We had the opportunity to see him play at the Scottish Open and the Open Championship resulting in a MC and T31 respectively. You might not know that he won the KLM Open at the end of June and has 7 top-25 finishes this year on the European tour. His approach game is solid ranking in the top 20 in this field in approach and he is relatively accurate ranking 11th in Good Drives. Oh and did I mention he won the French Open at this course in 2022? Coming in at 19th on a course fit and sub $7.5K, Guido is a high-risk, high-reward play.
$6.7K – Nick Taylor
I feel like this might be the most disrespectful price on the board. How is someone who won on the PGA Tour this year priced below the likes of Manassero, Victor Perez, and Grillo? Don’t get me wrong, I like a few of those golfers and will play some of them this week. I just can’t wrap my head around a Tour winner and player in the running for the Presidents Cup team being this underpriced. His recent finishes haven’t been great, but I would argue that this is one of the best courses for him. He sits at 6th in Course Fit while being top 25 in the field for Approach, ARG play, and fairways gained. He also sits top 30 in SG:Putting and SG:Total. With 4 GUARANTEED rounds of golf this weekend, Nick Taylor can rack up points with the best of them.
