SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France: Golf has finally arrived in the Olympic spirit, and the large and boisterous grandstand is also equipped with the appropriate star-studded crowd when medals are finally at stake in the final round of the men's competition.
Xander Schauffele and Jon Rahm were tied for the lead on Saturday, one stroke ahead of Tommy Fleetwood. Hideki Matsuyama saved himself on a wild day. Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy were close enough that gold is not out of reach.
Seven of the top ten qualifiers for the Paris Games were within five strokes of the leader.
“I'm really excited to be playing,” said Fleetwood. “The rankings are incredible. It's a ranking you would expect at the Olympics and one that the sport probably deserves.”
Schauffele felt like he was running in place and losing ground until he turned a two-stroke deficit into a one-stroke lead in a matter of minutes, hitting a 4-iron to 25 feet for an eagle on the par-5 14th hole just before Rahm three-putted for a bogey on the hole ahead of him.
Rahm responded with a 35-foot birdie putt over the 17th green. There were plenty of swings in momentum, and so the possibilities were great on Sunday.
Rahm, who played on a major stage for the last time this year before returning to LIV Golf, finished with a 5-under-par 66. Schauffele, who won the PGA Championship and British Open this year, got off to a slow start before shooting a 32 on the back nine for a 68.
They finished at 14 under 199, tying the Olympic record for 54 holes set by Schauffele when he won gold at the Tokyo Games.
“I'm slowly getting out of the starting blocks here,” said Schauffele. “I missed the first hurdle and had to try to get the ship back on course.”
He paused with a grin before adding, “Like that little Olympic reference there?”
Schauffele is aiming for another gold medal, which would cap an incredible month with two majors.
The crowd was just as loud, and just as loud in slightly more pleasant weather. Fans have only been allowed to watch Olympic golf twice since it returned to the program – in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and in Paris, where golf has long been played. The French Open has been held since 1906.
“This may be new in golf, but it's the Olympics,” Rahm said. “I think the audience knows it is, and we all know what's at stake.”
Rahm is also well aware that this is not a two-man race.
Fleetwood, who began the third round tied for the lead with Schauffele and Matsuyama, managed only three birdies but holed a 6-foot par on the 18th that was just as significant, leaving him one shot behind for a 69.
Matsuyama recovered from a poor start to shoot a 71, three shots behind Denmark's Nicolai Hojgaard, who opened the competition with a 62. He equaled the 18-hole record at Le Golf National, which his twin brother Rasmus also set at the French Open. Identical twins, same score.
This caught Schauffele’s attention as he looked at the medal round.
“62, that was something really high up on the leaderboard,” Schauffele said. “I didn't really see that. I'm just going to try to keep up. You have to be in position to win on the back nine and try to draw on previous experience and do it.”
Scheffler and McIlroy are in medal position, maybe even gold. Scheffler, the world's leading player and most dominant golfer of the past two years, stormed into contention with three birdies in a six-hole stretch on the back nine.
He fell behind with a chip that missed the green on the 17th hole, resulting in a bogey. And he was close to losing another shot when a drive into a deep bunker to the right of the 18th fairway forced him to land just short of the water. But he hit the wedge within reach and saved par for a 67.
He was four strokes behind, followed by Irish golfer Rory McIlroy (66), Tom Kim from South Korea (69) and Thomas Detry from Belgium (69).
“I feel like I haven't played my best in the last few days, but I've done enough to hold on and stay in the tournament,” Scheffler said. “It's a place where you can get hot. You saw Nicolai put in a really nice round today, and I need something like that tomorrow if I want to hold a medal in my hands.”
McIlroy lost in a seven-player playoff for the bronze medal at the Tokyo Games, saying later that he had “never tried so hard to finish third.” Having not won a major in 10 years, he has a good chance of winning a medal, and the color depends on him and the five players ahead of him.
“I probably have to play my weakest round of the week to have a chance at a medal. That's the goal,” McIlroy said.
The sport, which is slower than a marathon, is now becoming a sprint. Schauffele appreciates that.
