The 3 leaders (and 3 surprises!) that dominate the Olympic golf event at the moment
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Tommy Fleetwood in the second round of the Olympic Golf event.
getty photos
We’re 36 holes into the third Olympics of the modern golf era and it’s already safe to say this is the best yet. Star power in the field. The crowd supports without strings. And a golf course with enough volatility to keep fans (and, obviously, players) on their toes.
In the interim, we have three leaders and three surprises — let’s get to them.
3 LEADERS
1. Xander Schauffele he has probably never entered a golf tournament with a better punt. He’s defending his Olympic gold medal from Tokyo, for one thing. Even better, he’s coming off a summer in which he won two of the last three major championships. He hasn’t missed a cut since the 2022 Masters (yes, seriously) and hasn’t finished outside the top 20 since, either. And unlike Tokyo, he feels like he can get the full Olympic experience this time.
“For me, Tokyo was really special, obviously, but there were no fans. The city was closed. I was locked in my hotel room. “Going to dinner, seeing people everywhere, seeing fans everywhere singing, it feels like it’s my first time here,” he said. “I went to a swimming match one night, I put things my way. It was very good.” (Schauffele was blown away by the swimmers, wondering in the stands: “How long will it take me to do that, 45 minutes?”)
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So far, so good. Despite a few iron shots that he described as “skanky” and “clanky” to start his first round and a strange ant dominant in Round 2, Schauffele looked more like himself at the start of 65-66. He is ranked fourth in the field in approach strokes, second closest to the green and 12th in putting. That is a dangerous combination.
“It’s a battle for position coming out of that last end and what you’re trying to do is give yourself a chance in the back nine,” he said. He is T1 in 11 under category; we like his chances of being in those nine games.
2. Tommy Fleetwood he has been surprising me.
“I didn’t feel good about my swing all week,” he said after the second round of the under-64, echoing the same sentiments he expressed after the first. “But I’ve been doing things that I know are right and I’ve put it into playing the ball a lot … and I think gradually as you keep hitting enough good shots, obviously you build confidence and you continue to draw on those feelings. “
Fleetwood have won here before; Le Golf National was the site of his 2017 French Open victory. For American fans, Fleetwood is also known for his close calls; he is winless on the PGA Tour and has seven top-five finishes in the majors without a win. But he admitted that gold can be special.
“I try to look at things through the eyes of Frankie, my son, who is six years old,” he said. “If I had a gold medal … it’s an incredibly special thing to have. I think being able to be a part of one of these incredible athletes who put their heart and soul into their chosen career and a gold medal is the pinnacle of what they do. I have an incredible amount of respect for that, and I understand how special it is and what it means. So I mean, I would like both [a medal and a major] but you know, even so, a gold medal would be something I would be proud of.”
Like Schauffele, Fleetwood is playing well across the board – 9th in play, 4th around the green and 10th in putting. And, like Schauffele, he is T1 at 11 under par.
3. Hideki Matsuyama He’s had a solid season – a win at the Riviera, a T6 at the Players, a sixth at the US Open – but back-to-back MC-T66s in Scotland are what we’ve seen of late. So it was somewhat of a surprise to see him come out on top with a fourth-round 63. And it’s surprising to see him lead the field in putting two rounds; he has gained more than five strokes on the green and has accumulated 15 birdies.
Asked what feels good, Matsuyama insisted that he keeps things simple.
“I have no thoughts when I play. I’m doing my best every minute,” he said after the game. It works.
3 REASONS
1. Golfers weren’t sure what to expect from the Olympic crowd, but it wasn’t this.
There is a common theme from competitors like this: Wow.
“I think it surprised everyone, like how amazing the crowds were and what the atmosphere was like,” Fleetwood said.
“I don’t know what I was expecting. I heard 30,000 a day, which is a lot. It’s a lot of people,” said Schauffele. “And the fact that there are only 20 teams, the kind of fans – it’s very crowded in the best way.”
“It’s a big crowd. It was so much fun. They were enjoying us a lot,” said the World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler. “I definitely didn’t expect that. I didn’t really know what to expect but there were more people than I expected.”
“Generally all day the support was impressive,” added Jon Rahm, who sits fourth on nine under.
“Unbelievable,” commented Rory McIlroy. “It was surprising. With so many events going on all over the city, for people to come out here and watch us play, it was a really cool atmosphere to play in.”
2. The results are low, so there are fireworks…
Less than you’d expect if, like most golf fans, your primary exposure to Le Golf National was the cold, windy, tough version featured in the 2018 Ryder Cup. Three players are double digits in less than two rounds. We have seen many rounds of 63. Three-quarters of the 60-player field are even or better. Overall, the course plays for a stroke average of just under 70.
3…except for the 18th hole, where disaster struck.
Thursday’s par-4 playoff was tied at 4.4. On Friday it went up to about 4.5, thanks in part to the two men at the top of the leaderboard as they played the final.
Matsuyama was 13 under playing his 36th hole of the week; his tee shot got a bad lie in the wrong spot, lay up, hit his way into the water and made good to get away with a double bogey.
“It was a sad ending, but I’m glad today was only the second day,” he said.
Fleetwood was forced to lie down, too, after a wrong tee shot. He hit his approach 10 feet but missed it and set up for bogey to return to a three-way tie for the lead. It was a ho-hum bogey, the kind you can easily imagine a leader making going down on Sunday, playing for gold. Or copper.
“Definitely as the week goes on it becomes a bigger mental challenge,” Fleetwood said.
We’ll be here watching eagerly as it plays out.
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