The Olympic Men's Competition gets underway Thursday at Kasumigaseki Country Club outside of Tokyo, Japan.

Who will stand on the podium? Who will just miss the medal ceremony? GolfChannel.com writers weigh with their predictions.

Who wins gold?

REX HOGGARD: Paul Casey. There was little in Justin Rose’s run-up to the 2016 Games to suggest the Englishman was on the cusp of a gold-medal winning performance, but though he lacked results, he had plenty of passion. Casey seems to have stepped in for Rose in Tokyo after making the Olympics his singular focus this year.

RYAN LAVNER: Viktor Hovland. In two short years he has proved his game can travel, he’s embracing the Olympic experience, and he enters the Games with a ton of confidence having a win (BMW International) and T-12 (Open) in his past two starts.

BRENTLEY ROMINE: Hideki Matsuyama. We haven't seen him in weeks because of his COVID-19 diagnosis, but he's here and ready to win Gold for the host country. With the course playing soft, that plays into a lot of these players' games, but especially Matsuyama. He also has some prior experience on this layout, too, though that was back in his amateur days.

Who wins silver?

HOGGARD: Collin Morikawa. Near-misses aren’t really a standard that professional golfers focus on, but at the Olympics, where finishing in the top 3 is a goal unto itself, consistency is rewarded and no one in this week’s field has been more consistent than Morikawa this season. He has eight top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour to go along with those two victories.

LAVNER: Collin Morikawa. He seems refreshed and ready, and if his putter is even remotely as hot as it was at Royal St. George’s, this will be another stellar debut.

ROMINE: Thomas Detry. The Belgian golfer and former Illinois standout has two runner-up finishes in each of the past two seasons on the European Tour. A runner-up, aka silver medal, would be fitting this week.

Who wins bronze?

HOGGARD: Abraham Ancer. One of the comparisons being made this week is that Kasumigaseki Country Club reminds players of Quail Hollow Club, which hosts the Tour’s Wells Fargo Championship. Ancer finished runner-up this year at Quail Hollow and is one of the few players staying in the Athlete’s Village and taking full advantage of the Olympic experience.

LAVNER: Paul Casey. One of the game’s most complete players, he arrives in solid form and has been arguably the most energized by the Olympics, knowing that at 44 it’s likely his last chance to represent Great Britain.

ROMINE: Collin Morikawa. No one is playing better golf right now, and if his putter stays hot, it will be hard to keep Morikawa off the podium.

Who just misses the podium?

HOGGARD: Xander Schauffele. Just behind Morikawa in the consistency department is his American teammate (seven top-10s this season), and there’s a sentimental element to this week’s Games for Schauffele, whose grandparents are from Japan. He may not reach the podium, but it will still be a special week for Schauffele.

LAVNER: Xander Schauffele. It’s a de-facto home game for Schauffele, whose family history could add a dose of pressure to the proceedings. Given his previous close calls, it’ll be interesting to see how he handles that stage. Maybe it’ll provide him the experience he needs to get over the top in the majors.

ROMINE: Sungjae Im. Everyone will likely be rooting for Im and fellow South Korean Si Woo Kim to win medals and avoid their mandatory military service, but the odds are certainly against them – Im is 25/1 and Kim 50/1. I expect Im to make things interesting, but ultimately I think he falls just short.

Who will make a name for himself?

HOGGARD: Adrian Meronk. It seems unlikely Meronk will win a medal, but he will make history in Japan nonetheless. Earlier this summer, the 28-year-old became the first player from Poland to play in a major championship at the U.S. Open, and this week he becomes the first golfer from his country to compete in the Olympics.

LAVNER: Mito Pereira. Overshadowed by fellow countryman Joaquin Niemann for the past few years (and for good reason), the Chilean is coming into his own and has enjoyed a strong three-month run. After earning an instant promotion to the PGA Tour, he has started to feel at home on the big Tour, with back-to-back top-6s. On the grandest stage in sports, it's time to learn more about him.  

ROMINE: Carl Yuan. Even if he doesn't come close to the medal stand, the Chinese golfer out of the University of Washington will likely be talked about throughout the tournament. He hasn't played on the Korn Ferry Tour since the Wichita Open in late June, and he finished that week ranked No. 27 on the tour's points list. However, he's since missed the last four KFT events – and slipped to No. 31 – in order to return to China for centralized Olympic training. With just two more regular-season events left on the KFT schedule, “I probably have to miss the rest of the season," Yuan said earlier this week. Of course, an Olympic medal would help ease the sting.

The United States men's national team will face Mexico in a World Cup qualifier at Cincinnati's TQL Stadium on Nov. 12, the U.S. Soccer Federation announced on Wednesday. Per a U.S. Soccer release, the match will air live on the ESPN networks and Univision family of networks, with kickoff time to be determined.

The choice of venue amounts to a break with recent tradition. While the game will mark the sixth consecutive time that the U.S. has hosted Mexico in a World Cup qualifier in Ohio, the previous five such encounters were played at Crew Stadium in Columbus.

The last time the U.S. hosted a World Cup qualifier against Mexico outside of Columbus was back in April of 1997, when the two sides played to a 2-2 draw in Foxborough, Mass.

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"We took a hard look at all the venues and I think one thing that was important was, we're going to need every venue that we play in to have an absolute [raucous] crowd," Berhalter said at a news conference ahead of Thursday's Gold Cup semifinal match against Qatar in Austin, Texas.

Berhalter added that having a pro-U.S. crowd was key for the qualifying matches, where CONCACAF opponents often have large numbers of supporters in the stands.

"We feel like we made some mistakes in the last qualifying cycle, particularly in the Costa Rica game [at Red Bull Arena], not having a crowd that was that was 100% U.S. And that's going to be extremely important.

"And when I look at some of the venues we've chosen already and will continue to announce, I think it fits perfectly into what we're what we're talking about. Cincinnati, in particular has, you know, good capacity stadium, brand-new, and I think it's going to be a fantastic venue to compete against Mexico."

Columbus outlet The Massive Report stated that the Crew's new stadium, Lower.com Field, will host the World Cup qualifier against Costa Rica on Oct. 13. The USSF has yet to officially announce the venue for that match.

The match against Mexico will mark the first of two games in the November window, with the U.S. traveling to Jamaica to face the Reggae Boyz four days later. It is the only time during qualifying for the 2022 World Cup that a double fixture window will be used.

Under the new qualifying format, a total of eight teams -- increased from six in previous cycles -- will compete in the final round, with the top three teams advancing to Qatar '22. The fourth-place team will participate in an Intercontinental playoff for the last spot.

Mexico holds the historical edge in the series, winning 36 of the 71 previous encounters along with 15 draws.

But the U.S. has made headway since 2000, amassing a record of 15-9-6 against its longtime rival.

It's record in World Cup qualifiers in that time is 4-4-2. The most recent match came last June when the U.S. claimed a 3-2 extra time victory in the final of the inaugural CONCACAF Nations League.

The USSF also announced that due to the anticipated high demand, it will once again be using a weighted random draw for tickets.

The United States women's national team has been handed $1 million from a small California-based athletic apparel company so they can get a taste of being rewarded like their male counterparts as they fight for equal pay.

After watching the recently-released "LFG" documentary that chronicles the USWNT's battle for equal pay, Title Nine founder and chief executive Missy Park was so "ticked off" she decided to write the biggest check in her company's 32-year history.

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"This women's soccer team has dominated the sport like no other, they really are a national treasure," Park told Reuters in a video interview.

"And watching that documentary, the U.S. Soccer Federation are paying them like second-class citizens. I was just like 'wow'."

Over a five-year period since 2016, the players have been paid $64 million less than they would have been paid under the men's compensation structure, Title Nine said in a news release.

The USWNT sued U.S. Soccer's governing body in 2019 over allegations of gender discrimination in compensation and nearly every other aspect of their playing conditions.

Months later they won a fourth World Cup as fans chanted "equal pay" during the final.

The lawsuit, which sought $66 million in damages under the Equal Pay Act, was dismissed but the USWNT has since appealed.

Park, who named her company after Title IX, the landmark 1972 U.S. law that lifted barriers to girls and women in education and school sports, said the money would go to the 22 players on the team competing at the Tokyo Olympics.

By Park's calculations, the money will put the USWNT on the same pay scale as the men's national team -- who they have vastly outperformed -- for a period of six games.

Park said Title Nine will also match all contributions up to an additional $250,000 made through the "Kick In for Equal Pay" initiative that will transfer donations to a fund managed by the USWNT Players Association (USWNTPA).

"At first I was like, they are going to get this worked out in the courts, the U.S. Soccer Federation is going to step up and somebody is going to fix it," said Park. "Then I realized there is something that we can do about it.

"We looked at a lot of the numbers ... and we came to this figure. That's a lot of dough. It's a lot of dough for a small company like ours," added Park, who played basketball at Yale University and was an early beneficiary of Title IX.

Park, whose company has 19 retail stores across 10 states, said she told the USWNTPA that independently-owned Title Nine does not want anything in exchange for the money.

"I don't want an endorsement, I don't want a sponsorship. I don't want to have a beer with your players," Park said she told the USWNTPA.

"We don't sponsor athletes of any sort, ever. We don't play in this game, I don't think we'll ever play it again. For me, it was one of those things where, if we can do this my hope is it will it will encourage others."

USWNTPA executive director Becca Roux said the team was humbled by Title Nine's contribution, which is the largest the players association has ever received to support the players' fight for equal pay.

"Brands have significant power to impact the public dialogue on this important issue and we applaud Title Nine for stepping up and leading the effort to support the players and women in every industry," said Roux.

Giovanni Reyna has taken Borussia Dortmund's No. 7 shirt following the departure of Jadon Sancho to Manchester United.

Sancho left Dortmund for the Premier League in a €85 million move on a five-year contract.

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That means United States international Reyna now has the opportunity for more playing time at Dortmund as they look to end Bayern Munich's 10-season stranglehold on the Bundesliga title.

Last season the 18-year-old became an important player for Dortmund alongside Erling Haaland as the club qualified for the Champions League and won the German Cup.

Introducing Borussia Dortmund's newest #7, Giovanni Alejandro Reyna ??7️⃣ pic.twitter.com/dS67SWlM2t

— Borussia Dortmund (@BlackYellow) July 28, 2021

In 23 Bundesliga appearances, Reyna scored four goals and set up five more.

Players to have previously worn the No. 7 for Dortmund include Ousmane Dembele, Shinji Kagawa, Robert Lewandowski, Patrik Berger, Steffen Freund, Andreas Moller, Thomas Helmer and Michael Zorc.

Steven Gerrard is a winner again, and he is determined to make up for lost time by winning over and over as Rangers manager. And he wants the pressure and expectancy that comes with it, too.

Having ended the Glasgow club's 10-year wait for the Scottish title last season by delivering a record 55th domestic championship, the former Liverpool and England captain admits he had almost forgotten the sensation of lifting a major trophy, having last done so as a player in the 2011-12 EFL Cup final with Liverpool.

But as Rangers prepare to begin the defence of their Scottish Premiership crown with a 2021-22 season opener against Livingston at Ibrox on Saturday, in an exclusive interview with ESPN, Gerrard says that last season's success served as a personal reminder of the rewards of winning and reinforced his desire to ensure that he and Rangers become serial winners again.

"I hadn't won for a long time," Gerrard told ESPN. "For the majority of my career, I had always competed at the back end of seasons to try to win trophies, but it has been well documented that I never won the Premier League as a player and then I went off to LA (Galaxy) and started doing my coaching badges at Liverpool's youth team, so a lot of time had passed by without the opportunity to compete. I took this job just over three years ago now and it gave me the opportunity again to try to compete and get that winning feeling back from a personal point of view.

"And the wait was certainly worth it because it felt ever so good [to win the title]. It was a big relief, obviously, to get that first big trophy in the bag, but just reminiscing and thinking back over my playing career, to feel that winning feeling again and get a winners' medal over your neck, it was absolutely top class.

"But if you look at previous managers here, like Graeme Souness, Walter Smith and the guys that have gone before me, one trophy is never enough. The demand and responsibility is always to add to the success."

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Gerrard's achievement with Rangers last season went beyond merely guiding the club to the top of the pile in Scotland. In doing so, Rangers not only drew a line under the most turbulent decade in the club's history, when they were demoted to the fourth and bottom tier of Scottish football in 2012 and forced to fight back to the top as punishment for the financial mismanagement of previous owners, but they also prevented bitter rivals Celtic from creating history by winning 10 consecutive titles.

The pressure on Gerrard and his players was intense at the start of last season, but despite the potential ignominy of failing to stop Celtic from achieving 10 in a row, Rangers would emerge as champions without suffering a single league defeat, amassing 102 points in the process. They finished 25 points clear of runners-up Celtic and ensured that the balance of power in Glasgow swung firmly back to Ibrox from Celtic Park.

But for Gerrard, the only value of last season is its use as a launchpad for more success rather than an opportunity to wallow in the past.

"I think at Rangers you are always trying to reset the remit," he said. "Since I first came here (in summer 2018), we have completed a lot of the challenges that were set for me, my staff and the players, but the goalposts always move at a club that has experienced the kind of success that Rangers have.

"We've had incredible success, we made history last year, but it's about parking that up now and looking to build on that.

"I think this job comes with huge pressure every single season, no matter whether it is a success. There are always things to improve on, you always reset and get ready to go again. The pressure never changes, I don't feel under any other pressure than I did on day one really.

"My job every day comes with that responsibility to try to make this club better, and keep striving for success. We've got targets now set for the end of the season and that is to try to be as dominant as we can and get as much silverware we can to add to last year."

At 41, Gerrard is clearly at the outset of a career in management that many believe will ultimately see him take charge of Liverpool or England. His success with Rangers last season has done little to diminish the perception within the game that Gerrard will become a leading manager at the very highest level.

"I can't control any media speculation about my position," he said. "I don't welcome it, I don't add to it. All I do is focus on the job I have here and I'm very flattered and grateful for the position.

"I'm very happy here, I've said it on numerous occasions, it's a huge club, I'm settled, I'm happy and I can continue to develop and keep trying to push this team forward."

There is no sense with Gerrard that he is remotely interested in cutting short his time in Scotland. He told ESPN that succeeding Carlo Ancelotti at Everton was "never a possibility," while there were no moves by his friends or representatives to connect him with the vacancy at Tottenham Hotspur this summer.

Contracted to Rangers until the end of the 2023-24 season, it appears that Gerrard believes he has unfinished business at Ibrox and is in no rush to look elsewhere. He enjoys the pressure of the job and admits he actually relishes the challenge that comes with being a central figure at a huge club.

"It depends how you look at that pressure," he said. "You can either shrink by the thought of it and let it weigh you down, or you can see it as a challenge, put your shoulders back and try and embrace it.

"It is something that you want and demand for yourself. For me, I would always want to be in a position where the pressure and responsibility is big because it means you are in a top job and that, if you are good enough to win in that position, the feeling and the experience can be up there with the best things that ever happen to you.

"We have become the team that everybody wants to knock off the top, so we will have to try to defend that with our lives and also attack the next one with everything we've got."

This season, the challenge facing Gerrard is simple: keep winning. But on top of the expectation of domestic success, Gerrard must also restore Rangers to the Champions League.

The club hasn't played in the competition since losing a third-qualifying-round tie against Malmo in August 2011, but they renew acquaintances with the Swedish champions at the same stage of the tournament next month, aiming to win that tie and seal a place in the playoff round, which is the gateway to the group stages. On paper, Rangers are two steps away from the group stages, but Gerrard, a Champions League winner with Liverpool in 2005, insists that his team must clear two big obstacles before contemplating the prospect of glamour ties against the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and his old club, Liverpool.

"Very big obstacles," Gerrard said. "The Champions League is obviously a level up from the Europa League, so we have to be ready for that. It's going to be a tough challenge to get into that final round of qualifying, but for me, with experience you always worry about what is front of you, so the focus is very much on trying to overcome Malmo.

"It's been a case of us trying to grow as a group from a European point of view. Obviously, there was a major setback here before I joined the club in terms of qualification (Rangers lost to Luxembourg-based minnows Progres Niederkorn in 2017), but the club needs Europe financially and the fans also expect the team to deliver in Europe. We've had three really exciting journeys in Europe over the last three seasons, twice reaching the Europa League last 16, but it's all about raising the bar and trying to go that one or two steps further."

For now, however, the focus is on the start of the new Premiership season. Celtic, under new coach Ange Postecoglou, will be the biggest threat to Rangers' hopes of defending their title -- no team outside of Glasgow's big two has won the Scottish championship since Alex Ferguson's Aberdeen in 1985.

But having ended Rangers' long title drought in front of empty stadiums last season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Gerrard admits that one way to make this season better than the last is by winning the title again with supporters able to watch every kick along the way.

"The only tinge of sadness and frustration I had (last season) was that we couldn't celebrate in front of a full house at Ibrox, but obviously the scenes and experience of doing it was very much enjoyable," he said. "But life is how it is at the moment and we have to respect the virus and the situation that everyone is in, abide by all the rules that are put in front of us and try to do what we need to do.

"It just makes you that extra bit determined to go and do it again when things are hopefully back to normal and the crowds are in the stadium, when the experience will be even more enjoyable."