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Tokyo Olympics: Men's golf preview

David Cannon / David Cannon Collection / Getty

The United States will send a star-studded group of Justin Thomas, reigning Open champion Collin Morikawa, Xander Schauffele, and Bryson DeChambeau to the Tokyo Olympics. All of them rank inside the top six in the world.

Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, and Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama will also compete for the gold medal.

The golf event, which is a standard 72-hole stroke play with players competing as individuals, runs from July 29 to Aug. 1. For North American viewers, the tournament starts on the evening of July 28 due to the time difference.

Odds to win gold

Player Country Odds
Jon Rahm Spain +450
Rory McIlroy Ireland +1000
Collin Morikawa United States +1000
Xander Schauffele United States +1000
Bryson DeChambeau United States +1200
Justin Thomas United States +1400
Viktor Hovland Norway +1600
Hideki Matsuyama Japan +1800
Paul Casey United Kingdom +1800
Abraham Ancer Mexico +2000
Tommy Fleetwood United Kingdom +3300
Cameron Smith Australia +4000
Shane Lowry Ireland +4000
Marc Leishman Australia +4000
Joaquin Niemann Chile +4000
Corey Conners Canada +4000

Here's the complete list of Olympian golfers hailing from 36 different countries (world rank as of July 20):

United States ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ

Player World Rank
Collin Morikawa 3
Justin Thomas 4
Xander Schauffele 5
Bryson DeChambeau 6

Electing to skip: Dustin Johnson

Team note: The U.S. is the only team sending four golfers to Tokyo, which is the maximum number allowed if all players are inside the top 15 in the world ranking. Each golfer will make their Olympic debut. Matt Kuchar claimed a bronze medal for the Americans in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.

Canada ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ

Player World Rank
Corey Conners 35
Mackenzie Hughes 53

Team note: Conners and Hughes will represent Canada for the first time after Graham DeLaet and David Hearn did so in 2016. Before golf returned to the Olympics for the Rio Games, Canada was the defending gold medal winner thanks to George Lyon's victory at the 1904 Olympics.

Great Britain ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง

Player World Rank
Paul Casey 22
Tommy Fleetwood 34

Electing to skip: Tyrrell Hatton, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Lee Westwood

Team note: After three qualified players withdrew from consideration, Fleetwood will join Casey in Great Britain's attempt to defend Justin Rose's gold medal.

Spain ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ

Player World Rank
Jon Rahm 1
Adri Arnaus 166

Electing to skip: Sergio Garcia, Rafa Cabrera Bello

Team note: World No. 1 Rahm partners with the European Tour's Arnaus for a formidable duo of bombers. Fresh off his U.S. Open victory, Rahm is the clear favorite to win the gold medal.

Ireland ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ช

Player Rank
Rory McIlroy 15
Shane Lowry 39

Team note: Given the option to represent Great Britain or Ireland, Northern Ireland's McIlroy will play under the Irish flag alongside reigning Open champion Lowry. McIlroy elected to skip the 2016 Rio Games due to concerns with the Zika virus.

Japan ๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ต

Player World Rank
Hideki Matsuyama 20
Rikuya Hoshino 84

Team note: All eyes will be on Matsuyama, as the green jacket winner will compete on home soil with Hoshino, who recently placed T26 at the U.S. Open. If Matsuyama can win the Masters and a gold medal in the same year, he'll go down as a legend in Japanese sporting history.

Australia ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡บ

Player World Rank
Cameron Smith 28
Marc Leishman 35

Electing to skip: Adam Scott

Team note: Unfortunately for the Aussies, Olympic golf is not a team event. Smith and Leishman won the PGA TOUR's Zurich Classic together in May but will compete against each other in Tokyo.

Mexico ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฝ

Player World Rank
Abraham Ancer 23
Carlos Ortiz 61

South Korea ๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ท

Player World Rank
Sungjae Im 27
Si Woo Kim 55

Team note: This is a huge stage for both golfers, as a medal of any kind will allow them to skip the otherwise mandatory two years of military service imposed by South Korea.

Italy ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡น

Player World Rank
Guido Migliozzi 74
Renato Paratore 197

Norway ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ด

Player World Rank
Viktor Hovland 11
Kristian K Johannessen 288

South Africa ๐Ÿ‡ฟ๐Ÿ‡ฆ

Player World Rank
Garrick Higgo 43
Christiaan Bezuidenhout 46

Electing to skip: Louis Oosthuizen

Team note: Higgo will have the chance to turn more heads as he headlines the South African team following Oosthuizen's decision to skip the Olympics. Higgo, 22, won the Palmetto Championship in only his second PGA TOUR start.

France ๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ท

Player World Rank
Victor Perez 45
Antoine Rozner 87

Chile ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฑ

Player World Rank
Joaquin Niemann 26
Mito Pereira 136

Team note: Niemann will join forces with Pereira, who recently received a promotion to the PGA TOUR with three victories on the Korn Ferry Tour.

Belgium ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ช

Player World Rank
Thomas Detry 72
Thomas Pieters 116

Sweden ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ช

Player World Rank
Alex Noren 91
Henrik Norlander 122

Team note: Henrik Stenson, the 2016 silver medalist, failed to qualify.

Austria ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡น

Player World Rank
Matthias Schwab 135
Sepp Straka 160

Electing to skip: Bernd Wiesberger

Finland ๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ฎ

Player World Rank
Sami Valimaki 126
Kalle Samooja 130

Denmark ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ฐ

Player World Rank
Rasmus Hojgaard 124
Joachim B. Hansen 168

Argentina ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ท

Player World Rank
Emiliano Grillo 67

Colombia ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ด

Player World Rank
Sebastian Munoz 79

Thailand ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ญ

Player World Rank
Jazz Janewattananond 145
Gunn Charoenkul 282

Venezuela ๐Ÿ‡ป๐Ÿ‡ช

Player World Rank
Jhonattan Vegas 130

Slovakia ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฐ

Player World Rank
Rory Sabbatini 197

Team note: Sabbatini, the former South African, will finally accomplish his dream of competing in the Olympics after becoming a Slovakian citizen in 2019.

New Zealand ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฟ

Player World Rank
ย Ryan Fox 187

Chinese Taipei

Player World Rank
C.T. Pan 200

Poland ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ฑ

Player World Rank
Adrian Meronk 209

Germany ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ช

Player World Rank
Maximilian Kieffer 213
Hurly Long 269

Electing to skip: Martin Kaymer

Philippines ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ญ

Player World Rank
Juvic Pagunsan 229

Czech Republic ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฟ

Player World Rank
Ondrej Lieser 251

Zimbabwe ๐Ÿ‡ฟ๐Ÿ‡ผ

Player World Rank
Scott Vincent 258

Paraguay ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡พ

Player World Rank
Fabrizio Zanotti 312

Puerto Rico ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ท

Player World Rank
Rafael Campos 301

Malaysia ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡พ

Player World Rank
Gavin Kyle Green 352

China ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณ

Player World Rank
Carl Yuan 314
Ashun Wu 340

India ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ

Player World Rank
Anirban Lahiri 275

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