There will be 60 players competing for the gold, silver and bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics with the first tee time at 5:30 PM CT today, which is 7:30 AM at Kasumigaseki Country Club in Saitama, Japan, 35 miles northeast of Tokyo. The East Course at Kasumigaseki will be playing 7,447 yards and will play as a Par 71 with four par 3’s and 3 par 5’s along with 11 par 4’s. The greens are bentgrass and will be stimpiing at 12-12 1/2, with Zoysia covering the rest of the course and rough at just under 3 inches, but in some spots, up to 9 to 15 inches. It was redesigned by Tom Fazio and his son Logan in 2016 for these Olympic Games.

There are numerous Cypress and Pine trees throughout the course. No.18 is a 500 yard par 4 that looks quite similar to Augusta National’s No.18. The players will drive through a narrow shoot between trees to a narrow fairway and a green guarded by bunkers on each side. What I noticed most about the course are the narrower fairways, and many trees and bunkers and long holes. No.4 is a 237 yard, Par 3. No. 5 is a 640 yard, par 5. No.8 is a 586 yard, par 5. No. 9 is a 521 yard, par 4. No. 14 is a 596 yard, par 5. Nos. 16-18 are potential birdie opportunities with 16 a 203 yard par 3, which is still no bargain, with bunkers guarding the green. No. 17 is a 343 yard, par 4, but has several bunkers in front and on the side of the green. The longer hitters may get aggressive and try to clear the big bunker in front and on the right which is 310 yards out, but it’s a risk-reward shot. Will be an interesting hole on Sunday. No. 18 has the narrow driving area, with the player’s second shot having to clear a lake with a bunker in front of the green right in the center. There is a bunker right and a bunker left. It’s a challenge. This course looks sensational.

Justin Rose won the Gold Medal in the 2016 Olympics at Rio. Henrik Stenson won the silver and Matt Kuchar won the Bronze. None of the three will be competing.

Some big news was Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau withdrawing due to positive COVID tests. But the field is still strong with No.3 in the world Collin Morikawa, fresh off his 149th Open Championship victory at Royal St. George’s, No.4 Justin Thomas, who’s been struggling a little lately but won the Players Championship in March, and No.4 Xander Schauffele, competing. Morikawa and Schauffele have some Japanese heritage, so the Olympics has even added importance for those two. Patrick Reed, world number 12, will be the other American competing. Reed just found out Saturday that he was in, so he’s hustled over to Tokyo to make it to the course. He might have had a chance to see the course yesterday and play a couple of holes, but with the constant testing and restrictions at the Tokyo airport, it may have been difficult. I like the fact that Reed would do anything to play. Says a lot. Reed finished 11th in 2016 at Rio.

If there is a playoff, it would be a 3 hole aggregate with a sudden death playoff to follow if it can’t be decided after aggregate play.

Weather looks a bit questionable. Thursday, 90, hot and rainy in Japan right now, SSW 14, rain chances 70%. Friday, 88, SSE 7, rain chances 60%,. Saturday, 92, ENE 9, rain 30%. Sunday, 89, wind ENE 5. Rain 50%.

TV

Golf Channel all 4 days, Today through Saturday. Today, 5:30 PM-2 AM CT Thursday, 5:30 PM-2 AM CT. Friday, 5:30 PM-2 AM CT, Saturday 5:30 PM-2:30 AM. Not ideal after 10:30 PM, unless you’ve been out carousing on the weekend and are up to watch. Might be worth it. Most likely a tape job.

Odds

Morikawa, 7/1, Xander, 9/1, JT, 11/1, Rory, 12/1. Rory says he’s not patriotic and he’s hesitant to play, so I don’t give him much of a shot. Hideki Matsuyama, 12/1. Home turf. Won the Asia-Pacific Open in 2010 to qualify for the Masters as an amateur in 2011. Masters champion. Hasn’t played competitive golf since testing positive for COVID July 3rd at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. Viktor Hovland, 12/1. Paul Casey, 16/1. Reed, 18/1. Cameron Smith, 20/1. Joaquin Neimann 20/1. Shane Lowry, 25/1. Corey Conners, 25/1. Tommy Fleetwood, 28/1. Sungjae Im, 28/1. Marc Leishman 33/1. Christian Bezuidenhout, 35/1, South African. Garrick Higgo, 45/1, another South African. Si Woo Kim, 50/1. Thomas Pieters 55/1.

Interestingly on Im and Kim, both are South Korean and if they were to medal they would not have to serve the 2 years of mandatory military service required of all South Korean men aged 18-28. While it would be patriotic to serve your country and highly commendable, if you can get out of it and play professional golf for a living, that would be the preferred option.

Winners

Gold- Morikawa

just so good right now. Leads the tour by a wide margin in strokes gained approach and this course requires highly proficient ball striking. If he putts like he did at Royal St. George’s, he’ll win. I like him to do that.

Silver, Hideki

I like him to play well on his home course.

Bronze- Patrick Reed

I know the guy can be controversial, but the fact that he played in the U.S. Open, the Rocket Mortgage, the Open Championship and the 3M and still was amped up to come over and represent the U.S. like he does so well at the Ryder Cup, this year, the 41st edition at Whistling Straits, Sept. 24th-26th, tells me a lot about the guy. I expect Reed to do well.