Defending gold medal winner, two-time major champ Xander Schauffele in three-way tie for Olympics lead
Hideki Matsuyama, Tommy Fleetwood, and Schauffele are tied at 11-under par
Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa and Wyndham Clark will be on Team USA during the Paris Olympics.
Hideki Matsuyama was on a roll. He had just birdied the 16th and 17th holes and was in the solo lead at Le Golf National on Friday, being 13-under par.
He was one hole away from walking into the weekend as the solo leader at the 2024 Paris Olympics when he missed his drive far right, leaving a horrible lie in tall fescue. A hack-out only relieved his ball to more rough, just shy of the fairway.
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Hideki Matsuyama of Team Japan plays a shot on the 18th hole as his caddie looks on during Day Two of the Mens Individual Stroke Play on day seven of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Le Golf National on August 2, 2024, in Paris, France. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Still with the water to clear to get to the 18th green to try and get up and down for a bogey, he left it short and into the pond.
Matsuyama would nail a 10-foot putt to save double bogey, and he ended the day 11-under par.
Tommy Fleetwood was in Matsuyama’s group and was 12-under par going into the 18th hole. After hitting his drive in a bunker, he laid up his second shot, and made it onto the green lying three.
With a chance to par, and to take the solo lead with Matsuyama’s double bogey, he missed the par putt.
Fleetwood still shot a sensational 64, 7-under par to vault himself into a three-way tie at the top of the leaderboard.
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Tommy Fleetwood of Team Great Britain tees off on the 18th hole during Day Two of the Mens Individual Stroke Play on day seven of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Le Golf National on August 2, 2024 in Paris, France. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Xander Schauffele shot a 67, 5-under par on Friday to leave him at 11-under par alongside Fleetwood and Matsuyama.
Schauffele is the defending Olympic Champion from the Tokyo 2020 Games and is currently the hottest man in golf. When he won at the 2020 Games, he also took the lead into the weekend then.
The 30-year-old American won the British Open at Royal Troon a couple of weeks ago to win his second major of the year.
Another man playing hot golf of late is Jon Rahm. The Spaniard is in fourth place, 9-under par after shooting a 66 on Friday.
Rahm is fresh off his LIV victory of the season in England and is looking to parlay his recent strong play into a medal in his Olympic debut. Rahm missed the Tokyo 2020 Games due to a positive COVID test.
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Xander Schauffele of Team USA waves his ball to fans after making a birdie putt on the 11th hole green during the second round of the Olympic men's golf competition on day seven of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Le Golf National on August 2, 2024, i … (Keyur Khamar/PGA TOUR via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Here are the top 10 going after day 2 at the Olympics:
T-1. Xander Schauffele (USA): -11 (66)
T-1. Hideki Matsuyama (JPN): -11 (68)
T-1. Tommy Fleetwood (GBR): -11 (64)
4. Jon Rahm (ESP): -9 (66)
T-5. Thomas Detry (BEL): -8 (63)
T-5: C.T. Pan (TPE): -8 (65)
T-5. Tom Kim (KOR): -8 (68)
T-8. Stephan Jaeger (GER): -7 (64)
T-8. Guido Migliozzi (ITA): -7 (67)
T-10. Erik van Rooyen (RSA): -6 (69)
T-10. Joaquin Niemann (CHI): -6 (70)
T-10. Scottie Scheffler (USA): -6 (69)
The third round will begin Saturday at 3 a.m. ET.
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