3 Dark Horse Golf Picks for the Tokyo Olympics Gold Medal at FanDuel Sportsbook

The Summer Olympics have started, and the golf tournament begins Thurs., July 29 in Tokyo, which is Wednesday evening in the U.S. Fans in the United States can watch the deep field of 60 golfers go for Olympic gold starting each night at 6:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

But the Olympic golf event won't include the two most recent U.S. Open champions, as both Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau have tested positive for COVID-19 and have been forced to withdraw.

That still leaves some of the PGA Tour's top golfers shooting for a medal including Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas, Xander Schauffel and Patrick Reed from the USA team, along with Norway's VIktor Hovland, Ireland's Rory McIlroy, Paul Casey for Great Britain and Japan's own Hideki Matsuyama.

A total of 60 golfers will compete in four rounds of stroke play with the top three individual scores earning gold, silver and bronze medals. FanDuel Sportsbook has all the players odds to win a gold medal.

Here are three dark horse picks to consider as you look to cash in at FanDuel Sportsbook.

Olympic Golf 2021 Dark Horses

1. Abraham Ancer (Mexico): +2000

The Tom Fazio renovation of the East Course at Kasumigaseki Country Club is Par 71 and 7,447 yards with lightning fast bentgrass greens and zoysia fairways and turf. It's a big, wide open course with expansive, deep bunkers. Mexico's Abraham Ancer has had success on another tough Fazio-designed course at Quail Hollow. He ranked top-5 in ball striking, tee-to-green, off the tee, approach and No. 6 in strokes gained total in six rounds played. He finished 2nd in this year's Wells Fargo event at Quail Hollow, one stroke behind winner McIlroy and in front of third place finisher Hovland. Ancer's putting on bentgrass greens is top-5 over his last 36 rounds, and he's a dark horse that FanDuel Sportsbook believes in based on his odds.

2. Tommy Fleetwood (Great Britain): +2900

Tommy Fleetwood's short game and around the green play should keep him in contention at Kasumigaseki's East Course. That strength of his game has been especially strong at Quail Hollow, and over his last 50 rounds, Fleetwood ranks No. 1 on the PGA TOUR in strokes gained around the green. His results and finishing position have not met his stats performances, but Fleetwood appears to be a pretty good fit for this course if his ball striking and approach play is on target.

3. Thomas Pieters (Belgium): +6000

Belgium's Thomas Pieters plays on the European Tour, and does have three top-25 finishes in five PGA TOUR starts this season. Of note is that Pieters finished tied for 6th at the 2018 PGA Championship on zoyia grass and Tom Fazio-designed Bellerive Country Club course. The former University of Illinois star also has a top-10 finish at The Masters on fast, undulating greens. The 29-year-old was a tall, lanky rising star on the 2016 Ryder Cup team and played so well as a rookie. He's a very big hitter with solid iron play who could surprise at the Olympics.

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