After 36 holes of Olympic competition the race for the gold medal remains intriguingly poised.
Round 1 leader Hideki Matsuyama was able to maintain his lead, but saw both Tommy Fleetwood and Xander Schauffele draw level at the top of the leaderboard.
Fourteen players will start their third rounds within 5 shots of the three leaders and the race for the medals looks set to go right down to the wire.
Ahead of what is bound to be another superb day of gold, here are all of yesterday’s talking points.
Matsuyama could be left to the final hole mistake
Having missed out on a medal at his home games back in 2021, Hideki Matsuyama seems determined to make up for it here and after 35 holes the Japanese star found himself leading by two.
With just the tricky 18th hole to navigate, a good round’s work was undone as his tee shot slid off the club face and found a watery end.
Needing to scramble to limit the damage, Matsuyama would sign off for a six, but his two shot lead evaporated and ensured that he would start today tied at the top with both Fleetwood and Schauffele.
Ever since his Masters victory back in 2021, Matsuyama seems to have been plagued by costly mistakes. Seemingly pushing too hard off the tee, if Matsuyama is to hold off some of the best players in the world, he will need to ensure he plays a sensible round today to keep himself in the mix.
Schauffele remains on course to defend his Olympic title
Although nobody can deny Scottie Scheffler’s brilliance following a truly brilliant season, it could be argued that with his two major titles, Xander Schauffele is currently playing the best golf on the planet.
Already an Olympic gold medalist, thanks to his victory in the Tokyo games, Schauffele is playing exceptional golf and to the surprise of noone, moved himself right into contention with a five under second round.
A birdie machine, the world number two birdied seven of his eighteen holes with his card being spoiled by just two dropped shots.
Having worked his way into contention, arguably his best golf was played as he navigated the tricky final holes in level par. Recognised as the man to beat today, Schauffele will hope to use his recently found fear factor to his advantage. If he starts well, his lead by the end of the day could be commanding.
Fleetwood invokes memory of 2018 Ryder Cup to propel himself into contention
Of those situated at the top of the leaderboard, the one man who could be feeling the pressure the most is Tommy Fleetwood.
Yet to win a major or tournament on the PGA Tour, Fleetwood knows that securing a gold medal this weekend could be the biggest achievement of his career.
Having started the week at a double figure price, many felt that Fleetwood could be in for a special week due to how he performed at the 2018 Ryder Cup.
A winner of four of his five matches that weekend, Fleetwood showed then that Le Golf National was set up to his liking and those positive feelings seem to have returned as he signed off on a stunning second round 64.
Often where Fleetwood can come up short is on the greens, but through his first 36 holes the Englishman has been electric with the flat stick and his followers will hope that blistering form continues today.
Throughout his career Fleetwood has found himself in the reckoning at some of the games biggest events, only to find himself just falling short when it matters most.
Clearly capable of winning the biggest prizes in the sport, today could be monumental as he looks to stay in the hunt for an Olympic medal.
Others remain firmly in the hunt
Although the three players at the top of the leaderboard will rightly take up much of the attention, there are several of the games biggest stars who will be hoping to vault themselves into medal contention with a big showing today.
After a reasonably slow start to his LIV Golf career, Jon Rahm is back and is easily playing his best golf of the season.
A winner last week at LIV Golf UK, he also recorded a top ten finish at the Open and finds himself in contention once again this week.
Currently standing alone in fourth place, Rahm won’t be worried about the two shot deficit he currently faces and he will hope to get off to a fast start to apply pressure to the leading trio.
His round of 66 yesterday was one of the best of the day and the fiery Spainaird will certainly be back for more today.
After dominating the first half of the year, Scottie Scheffler has found himself in the slightly unusual position of having to play second fiddle to Xander Schauffele.
Scheffler was slow to get going yesterday and his chances looked all but over after a costly double bogey moved him well back on the leaderboard. However, never one to panic, the world number one responded magnificently and found four birdies on the trickier back nine to keep himself on the leader’s coattails.
Scheffler will start his round six strokes behind the leaders but knows that he can claw that deficit back over the weekend. He will be able to fly under the radar today and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him make a significant move up the leaderboard.
Two of the game’s youngest and exciting talents in Tom Kim and Joaquin Niemann find themselves just three strokes back and both could represent some real value today.
At -5 and six strokes back Rory McIlroy has it all to do. However, the world number three is no stranger to making up ground over the weekend and he will hope to produce one of his trademark leaderboard charges today.
Round 3 Olympic Golf Betting
If you fancy placing a bet today on who might end up taking home the gold, here is how the top ten in the betting currently looks
XANDER SCHAUFFELE - 15/8
TOMMY FLEETWOOD - 4/1
JON RAHM - 9/2
HIDEKI MATSUYAMA - 11/2
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER - 11/1
TOM KIM - 18/1
RORY MCILROY - 25/1
THOMAS DETRY - 30/1
JOAQUIN NIEMANN - 45/1
COLLIN MORIKAWA - 66/1
Jack Hartman
A keen golfer and huge fan of the game, Jack has been covering golf for the last five years. Bringing you all the latest coverage and news from the PGA, LIV, LPGA and DP World Tours, never before has golf been so popular and Jack can’t wait to bring all the excitement to his readers.
