Olympics & Paralympics

Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama Shares Lead in Olympic Men’s Golf

AP
Hideki Matsuyama plays his tee shot off the 8th during the second round of the men’s golf event at the Paris Olympics on Friday in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France.

Reuters

11:19 JST, August 3, 2024

GUYANCOURT, France (Reuters) – Xander Schauffele remained in the hunt for a second successive Olympic gold as the American ended the second day of the men’s golf competition as joint leader, unperturbed by a brush with an anthill.

Schauffele shot a five-under-par 66 for his second round to reach 11 under, tied with overnight leader Hideki Matsuyama of Japan and Britain’s Tommy Fleetwood who revived memories of his past success at Le Golf National near Paris.

In-form Schauffele won last month’s British Open to claim his second major title this year.

If you do hit a bad shot it’s easier to accept it because you know you’re playing really good golf and you can make it up somewhere else, he told reporters.

Finding the rough along the 13th fairway, he discovered his ball was lying on an anthill and sought advice from tournament officials before hacking out on the way to a bogey.

I’ve had burrowing animal issues but not like an antpile that you can’t really move, he said.

The 60 contenders will all play four rounds in a stroke play format at the venue that hosted the 2018 Ryder Cup.

Matsuyama suffered his first dropped shots of the competition after an unblemished opening round. That included a double bogey on the last hole after finding water, depriving him of an outright clubhouse lead.

Asia’s top-ranked remained in contention, however, after narrowly missing out on bronze on home soil three years ago.

Playing alongside Hideki, Fleetwood also dropped a shot on the 18th but posted a seven under round that included an eagle on the third hole.

Spain’s Jon Rahm, like Matsuyama a former Masters winner, was fourth on the leaderboard at nine under.

Thomas Detry posted the best score of the second round, matching Matsuyama’s opening day eight under 63 to put the Belgian in joint fifth place.

Further back, world number one Scottie Scheffler, who this year claimed his second Masters Green Jacket, was joint-10th at six under while playing partner Rory McIlroy of Ireland was another stroke back.

France had a mixed day, with the country’s top-ranked player Matthieu Pavon slipping to four over, while Victor Perez stayed within touch of the leaders at five under.