SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France: Golf finally has some Olympic buzz from the big and fierce gallery, and it has the star power to play with medals at stake in the final round of the men's competition.
Xander Schauffele and Jon Rahm were tied for the lead on Saturday, one shot clear of Tommy Fleetwood. Hideki Matsuyama saved the wild day. Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy were so close that gold was out of reach.
Seven of the top 10 qualifiers for the Paris Games were within five shots of the lead.
“I'm very excited to play,” Fleetwood said. “The leaderboard is amazing. It's like a leaderboard that you would expect at the Olympics and probably what the Games deserve.”
Schaufel found himself running in place and losing ground until he turned a two-shot deficit into a one-shot lead within minutes. He hit a 4-iron to 25 feet for eagle on the par-5 14th, before Rahm three-putted for bogey on the hole before him.
Rahm responded with a 35-foot birdie putt past the 17th green. Swings in pace were plentiful, and so were the odds going into Sunday.
Rahm finished with a 5-under 66, playing on the big stage for the last time this year before returning to LIV Golf. Schaufel, who won the PGA Championship and the British Open this year, got off to a slow start before posting. 32 for 68 off nine.
They were at 14-under 199, the 54-hole Olympic record Schaufel set when he won gold at the Tokyo Games.
“I'm slow out of the gates here,” Schaufel said. “I fumbled my first hurdle and had to try and stay steady to come in.”
“Like a little Olympic reference there?” He paused with a smile before adding.
Schauffele is going after another gold in what will cap the most surprising month of the two majors.
In slightly more pleasant weather the crowds were just as loud and boisterous. Fans have only been allowed to watch the Olympics twice since golf returned to the program — Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and Paris, which has a history of hosting golf. The French Open dates back to 1906.
“It may be new in golf but it's the Olympics,” Rahm said. “I think the crowd knows it is, and we all know what's at stake.”
Rahm also knows very well that this is not a two-man race.
Fleetwood, who started the third round tied at the top with Schaufel and Matsuyama, made just three birdies but made a 6-foot par at the 18th that was equally meaningful. He shot a 69 and was one shot behind.
Matsuyama recovered from a poor start of 71 and was three behind Denmark's Nicolai Højgaard, who shot 62 to move into contention. His twin brother Rasmus also equaled the 18-hole record at Le Golf National. French Open. Identical twins, identical marks.
That caught Schaufel's attention as he looked ahead to the medal round.
“Basty, that was something on the leaderboard right there,” Schauffele said. “Not really seeing that. Just going to try and make contact. You've got to be in position to win on that back nine and try and rely on some previous experience and get it done.
Scheffler and McIlroy are in medal position, maybe even gold. Scheffler, the world's No. 1 player and arguably the most dominant golfer of the past two years, charged into contention with three birdies in a six-hole stretch on the back nine.
With a chip that didn't reach the green on 17, he fell behind and ended up with a bogey. And he was poised to miss another shot when a drive into a deep bunker right of the 18th fairway forced him to miss the water. But he hit Wedge to tap-in range to save a 67-run tie.
He was four behind Irish golfer Rory McIlroy (66), South Korea's Tom Kim (69) and Belgium's Thomas Detry (69).
“I feel like I haven't had my best stuff the last few days, but I've done enough to hang in there and stay in the tournament,” Scheffler said. “Around this course, you can get hot. You saw Nikolai's really good round today, and I need something like that tomorrow if I'm going to medal.”
McIlroy lost in a seven-man playoff for bronze at the Tokyo Games and famously said afterward that he “didn't try that 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 in front of him.
“I'm going to shoot probably my lowest round of the week to have a chance at a medal. That's the goal,” McIlroy said.
A game that runs slower than a marathon now turns into a sprint. Schauffele can appreciate it.
