SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France: Golf has finally received some Olympic cheer from a large and noisy gallery, and it has the star power to match in the final round of the men's event with medals on the line.
Xander Schauffele and Jon Rahm were tied for the lead on Saturday, one shot clear of Tommy Fleetwood. Hideki Matsuyama saved a wild day. Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy were close enough that gold is not out of reach.
Seven of the leading 10 qualifiers for the Paris Games were within five shots of the lead.
“I'm very, very excited to play,” Fleetwood said. “The scoreboard is amazing. It's like a leaderboard that you would expect at the Olympics and probably what the sport deserves.”
Schauffele 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 in front of him.
Rahm responded with a 35-foot birdie putt over the 17th green. The swings in speed were good, and so were the possibilities for Sunday.
Rahm, playing on a big stage for the last time this year before returning to LIV Golf, finished with a 5-under 66. Schauffele, who won the PGA Championship and British Open this year, got off to a slow start before posting a 32 on the back nine for a 68.
They were at 14-under 199, which tied the 54-hole Olympic record Schauffele set when he won gold at the Tokyo Games.
“I'm slow out of the gates here,” Schauffele said. “Fumbled my first obstacle and had to try and steady the ship coming in.”
He paused with a smile before adding, “Like that little Olympics reference there?”
Schauffele is on the hunt for another gold to cap a stellar month of two majors.
The crowd was just as loud and just as rowdy in slightly more pleasant weather. Fans have only seen Olympic golf twice since its return to the program – Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and Paris, which has a history of hosting golf. French Open dates back to 1906.
“It may have been new in golf but it's the Olympics,” Rahm said. “I think the audience knows it is, and we're all aware of what's at stake.”
Rahm is also well aware that this is not a two-man race.
Fleetwood, who started the third round tied at the top with Schauffele and Matsuyama, made just three birdies but hung a 6-foot par on the 18th that was equally meaningful. He had a 69 and was one shot behind.
Matsuyama bounced back from a poor start for a 71 to be three behind Nicolai Hojgaard of Denmark, who roared into contention with a 62. That equaled the 18-hole record at Le Golf National also matched by his twin brother Rasmus at the French Open . Identical twins, identical scores.
That got Schauffele's attention as he looked forward to the medal round.
“Sixty-two, that was something up there on the scoreboard,” Schauffele said. “Didn't really see it. Just going to try to stay in touch. You have to be in position to win on the back nine and try to fall on previous experiences and get it done.”
Scheffler and McIlroy are in medal position, maybe even gold. Scheffler, the world's No. 1 player and golfer's most dominant player of the past two years, entered the fray with three birdies in a six-hole stretch on the back nine.
He fell back with a chip that missed the green on the 17th and led to bogey. And he was poised to drop another shot when a drive into a deep bunker to the right of the 18th fairway forced him to lay up near the water. But he hit the wedge to tap-in range to save par for 67.
He was fourth behind with Irish golfer Rory McIlroy (66), Tom Kim of South Korea (69) and Thomas Detry of Belgium (69).
“I feel like I haven't had my best stuff the last few days, but I've done enough to keep up and stay in the tournament,” Scheffler said. “You can get hot around this track. You saw Nicolai had a really good round today, and I'll need something like that tomorrow if I'm going to get a medal.”
McIlroy lost in a seven-man playoff for bronze at the Tokyo Games and later said he had “never tried so hard to finish third.” Without a major for 10 years, he is in position for a medal, and the color depends on him and the five players ahead of him.
“I'm probably going to have to shoot my lowest round of the week to have a shot at a medal. That's the goal,” McIlroy said.
The sport that moves slower than a marathon is now turning into a sprint. Schauffele can appreciate that.
