In the cut-throat world of Olympic golf, where precision and nerves of steel are paramount, determining a champion sometimes requires more than the standard rounds. When competitors finish with identical scores, the competition moves into a thrilling playoff to decide the winner.

Ahead of Day 9 of the Olympics, things with Rahm (ESP), Schauffele (GER) and Fleetwood (GBR) are agonisingly tight at the top, and it’s got many wondering what would need to happen should they end the day tied.

Olympic golf tie-breaker

As mentioned, a playoff round is used to decide the winner of the medals, but it doesn’t quite work in the standard way we’re used to seeing in the PGA Tour. However, in contrast to what we see in tournament golf – which uses a playoff solely to determine the overall champion – Olympic golf employs a playoff to decide the winners of the silver (second place) and bronze (third place) medals as well.

The PGA Tour writes: “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.”

When was the last Olympic golf playoff?

The most recent tiebreaker at the Olympic Games came at 2020 Tokyo. On that occasion, seven golfers fought for the bronze medal, with C.T. Pan beating Hideki Matsuyama, Sebastián Muñoz, Collin Morikawa, Paul Casey, Mito Pereira and Rory McIlroy.

Viewers in the United States will be able to watch Paris 2024 on NBC Olympics, Telemundo, Universo and Peacock, as well as NBC sister channels including CNBC, E! and USA Network.

Aside from Peacock, your streaming options will include fuboTV, which offers users a free trial. Stream the Olympics live on fuboTV. At AS USA, you’ll be able to follow a live blog with the latest medal count.