Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France: Golf finally had a voice at the Olympics from a large and raucous gallery, and it has the star power to compete as the men's finals go into the final round with medals ultimately at stake. .
Xander Schaufele and John Rahm tied for the lead with a one-shot lead over Tommy Fleetwood on Saturday. Hideki Matsuyama saved a wild day. Scotty Scheffler and Rory McIlroy were close enough for gold to be out of reach.
Seven of the 10 Paris Games qualifiers were within five shots.
“I'm very, very excited to play,” Fleetwood said. The scoreboard is amazing. “It's like a leaderboard that you expect at the Olympics and probably what the sport deserves.”
Schoefle felt like he was running in place and losing ground until he turned a two-shot deficit into a one-shot lead in a matter of minutes. He hit a 4-iron to 25 feet for eagle on the par-5 14th, just before Rahm three-putted for bogey on the hole ahead of him.
Rahm responded with a 35-foot birdie putt across the 17th green. The volatility in the move was huge, and so were the odds until Sunday.
Playing on the big stage for the last time this year, Ramm finished with a 5-under 66 before returning to LIV Golf. Schaufele, who won the PGA Championship and the British Open this year, got off to a slow start before posting a shot. 32 behind nine for 68.
They were 14-under 199, matching the 54-hole Olympic record that Schaufele accomplished at the Tokyo Games.
“I'm coming out of the gates here fast,” Schaufele said. “I broke my first hurdle and had to steady the incoming ship.”
“Like that little Olympic reference there?” he paused with a grin.
Schauffele is looking for another gold, capping an amazing month of two championships.
The crowd was just as boisterous in the slightly milder weather. Since Olympic golf returned to the program, fans have only been allowed to see Olympic golf twice – in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and Paris, which has hosted the event. The French Open dates back to 1906.
“It might be new to golf, but it's the Olympics,” Rahm said. “I think the crowd knows that, and we're all aware of what's at stake.”
Rahm also knows very well that this is not a two-person competition.
Fleetwood, who started the third round tied with Schaufele and Matsuyama, had just three birdies but a 6-foot par at the 18th was just as meaningful. He had a 69 and was one shot behind.
Matsuyama recovered from a poor start for a 71 to move three back of Denmark's Nikolaj Højgaard, who shot a competitive 62. French Open Identical twins, same score.
This caught Schaufele's attention as he looked around the medal.
“Sixty-two, that was something at the top of the table,” Schaufele said. I really did not see this. Just try and keep in touch. “You've got to be in a position to win on that back nine and try to draw from previous experiences and do it.”
Scheffler and McIlroy are in medal position, maybe even gold. Scheffler, the No. 1 player in the world and the most dominant golfer of the past two years, entered the contest with three birdies in a six-hole stretch on the back nine.
He fell behind with a chip that missed the green on 17, leading to a bogey. And he was poised to miss another shot when a drive into a deep bunker on the right side of the 18th fairway forced him to lay on the water. But he hit the wedge into range to make par for 67.
He was four back with Irish golfer Rory McIlroy (66), South Korea's Tom Kim (69) and Belgium's Thomas Detri (69).
“I feel like I haven't been at my best the last few days, but I've been trying hard enough to be in it and stay in the race,” Scheffler said. “Around this course, you can warm up. You saw Nicolai had a really good round today and I'll need that tomorrow if I'm going to medal.”
McIlroy lost in a seven-man playoff to win bronze at the Tokyo Games and later said he “never tried hard enough to finish third.” Unseeded for 10 years, he is in medal position and the color is up to him and the five players in front of him.
I would probably have to shoot my lowest course of the week to have a chance at a medal. This is the goal.” McIlroy said.
A sport that moves slower than the marathon is now the sprint. Schaufele can appreciate that.
