Representing the country of Japan, Hideki Matsuyama ($8,800; 65 FPTS) had a tremendous opening round at the Paris Olympics, carding an 8-under 63 at the Albatros course of Le Golf National, giving him a two-stroke lead. Matsuyama didn’t card a single bogey Thursday and five of his eight birdies came on the front nine. The former Masters champion had no previous experience at the Albatros course before Thursday, but did finish T4 at the 2020 Olympics in Japan. Matsuyama clearly takes a lot of pride in representing his home country and, following his round Thursday, he carries the third best odds to take home the gold medal this weekend at +650 on the DraftKings Sportsbook. In the $800K Gold Golfer Special contest, Matsuyama was rostered by 13.9% of the field.
Coming off his convincing win at the Open Championship two weeks ago, Xander Schauffele ($11,600; 45.5 FPTS) tallied a 6-under 65 at the Albatros course Thursday and is two shots back of Matsuyama. For the first round, Schauffele finished with seven birdies and only one bogey. His win at the Open Championship marked Schauffele’s second major victory of the season and he also took home gold at Men’s Olympic Golf Competition at the Paris Olympics in 2020. Outside of Scottie Scheffler ($12,500, 34 FPTS) — who sits four back of Matsuyama after the first round — nobody in the world has played better golf than Schauffele this season and he is the current betting favorite to win gold this weekend at +300 on the DraftKings Sportsbook. In the $800K Gold Golfer Special, Schauffele was rostered by 18.7% of the field.
All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.
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