Men's golf competition has lived up to the hype through three rounds of play at the 2024 Paris Olympics .
Now, only one round remains heading into Sunday at Le Golf National , featuring what should be a frenzied race for a medal — and a congested top of the leaderboard. It should provide the golf world with another entertaining finish.
Depending on how the leaderboard shakes out over the final 18 holes, it could also result in a playoff to determine not only who wins the gold medal , but also silver and bronze — a distinct difference from golf events that occur on the PGA Tour.
2024 PARIS OLYMPICS: Follow USA TODAY's full coverage of the Summer Olympics
Spain's Jon Rahm and the United States' Xander Schauffele each enter Sunday's fourth round at 14-under par and tied for a gold medal — one Schauffele will look to defend after winning it at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Then there's Great Britain's Tommy Fleetwood, who enters the final round in sole possession of the bronze medal, one stroke behind Rahm and Schauffele.
Other golfers, such as Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler, are just outside the podium but can contend for a medal — or a playoff — with a strong finish on Sunday.
With that, here's what you need to know about playoff rules and holes for the 2024 Paris Olympics:
REQUIRED READING: 2024 Paris Olympics golf format, explained: Is there a cut, scoring, how to watch
Is there a playoff in Olympic golf?
Yes. Like the PGA Tour, if there is a tie atop the leaderboard after Sunday's final round of golf, there will be a playoff. However, unlike the PGA Tour — where a playoff is used to determine only the overall champion — Olympic golf also uses a playoff to determine who wins the silver (second place) and bronze (third place) medals. A playoff will be played until only one golfer remains in each of the gold, silver and/or bronze medal contention.
Per PGATour.com:
"Unique to golf at the Olympics, however, is that ties must be broken not just to determine a winner, but also — if necessary — to determine the silver and/or bronze medalists. If Player X finishes in the gold-medal position with a score of 12-under, but Players Y and Z finish tied for second at 11-under, players Y and Z will compete in a playoff to determine who takes silver and who takes bronze."
According to the The Wall Street Journal , the three playoff holes at Le Golf National will be, in order, Nos. 18, 16 and 17. If a tie remains after one playoff, the three holes will be played again.
Here's what to know on the three holes at Le Golf National:
- Hole 16: Par 3, 168 yards
- Hole 17: Par 4, 480 yards
- Hole 18: Par 4, 471 yards
Has there been a playoff in Olympic golf since reinstatement in 2016?
Yes. There has been one playoff in men's golf since it was reintroduced as an Olympic event at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. It came at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where seven golfers fought for the bronze medal.
C.T. Pan won the seven-golfer playoff, which also featured Hideki Matsuyama, Rory McIlroy, Collin Morikawa, Paul Casey, Sebastián Muñoz and Mito Pereira. Pan beat out Morikawa on the fourth hole of the playoff to win the bronze medal by one stroke, as Morikawa shot for par on the hole.
Watch golf at the 2024 Paris Olympics with Fubo (free trial)
How to watch Round 4 of Olympics golf Sunday? TV channel, streaming options
Sunday's round of golf at Le Golf National will be broadcast on NBC's Golf Channel. You can also stream Round 4 on NBCOlympics.com, the NBC app or the NBC Olympics app by logging in with your TV provider credentials.
Other options include Peacock or on Fubo , the latter of which carries Golf Channel and offers a free trial to select users.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Does Olympic golf have a playoff? What to know of Paris Games' potential medal tiebreaker
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