Olympic Golf Picks: Close Race At The Top For Women's Gold Medal

The men’s Olympic golf tournament is in the books, but that doesn’t mean that Olympic golf is done for the next three years. The women’s event is set to tee-off Wednesday morning in Japan.

Xander Schauffele captured the gold medal for Team USA, and now the Americans have a chance to sit atop the podium in the women’s event as well. Nelly Korda from the United States is the current betting favorite to win the gold medal. Nelly’s sister, Jessica, will also be competing at the event, but her odds are set at +2200. Danielle Kang (+1500) and Lexi Thompson (+1750) will also be representing Team USA.

Check out our odds article to see the full list of betting odds available at WynnBET.

After striking out with my picks in the men’s event, I’m determined to bounce back with a winner for the ladies tournament. We now have a better idea of how Kasumigaseki Country Club will play, which will help us determine which golfers should succeed this week.

Without further ado, here are my top three picks for the women’s Olympic golf tournament. All odds listed are available via WynnBET.

Nelly Korda +700

I picked the favorite, Collin Morikawa, in the men’s event and it didn’t work out for me, but I’m back on the favorite in the women’s event this week. I usually hate taking favorites in golf events, but if there’s a time to do it, it’s when the event has a shortened field with no cuts.

Nelly Korda has truly been a cut above the rest on the LPGA Tour this season. She leads all golfers in scoring average at 68.891, which is significantly better than the next best, Inbee Park at 69.302. A 0.411 stroke difference between Korda and the next best golfer is quite significant, and shouldn’t be disregarded.

She also is entering the tournament in fantastic form, winning two events in June including the PGA Championship. She’s the betting favorite for a reason, and worth a bet at +700.

Danielle Kang +1500

Trust me, I’m not purposely favoring the Americans in this event, but I think Danielle Kang presents a lot of value at +1500. The men showed that strong putters can succeed at Kasumigaseki, as it seemed like putts were dropping all over the place throughout the tournament.

Kang enters the event as the best putter on the LPGA Tour. She averaged 28.71 putts per round, which is the best mark among all female golfers. If her flat stick can remain strong this week, she’ll be in contention for a gold medal.

Lydia Ko +1700

There’s a lot of reasons to like Lydia Ko this week at Kasumigaseki Country Club. As I mentioned, good putters will find success at this track and Ko ranks third on the LPGA Tour in putts per round at 28.76, only 0.05 more than the aforementioned Kang.

Ko is also fantastic at getting birdies, and the men showed us last week that there will be plenty of birdie opportunities. She ranks fourth on Tour in birdies, averaging 4.1 per round.

The one thing to look out for, and the reason for her having such high odds, is her driving accuracy. You can find yourself in plenty of tree trouble off the tee, and Ko ranks 151st in fairway percentage. If she can find consistency with her driver, or even opt for long irons off the tee, she just might be able to grab the gold medal for New Zealand.

Finally, don't forget that she won the silver medal at the 2016 games. So she has the experience and knows what it takes to find the podium.

Which one of the ladies will take home the Gold? Get in on the action with the WynnBET app.