Tommy Fleetwood and Rory McIlroy in medal mix ahead of star-studded final day of men's Olympic golf
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Published 03/08/2024 at 20:38 GMT+1
The final round of the men's golf at the Paris Olympics is a mouthwatering prospect after the penultimate day left a host of big names at the top of the leaderboard. Reigning champion Xander Schauffele shares the lead with Jon Rahm, but Team GB's Tommy Fleetwood is just one shot behind. Ireland's Rory McIlroy carded 66 to keep himself in touching distance of the leaders.
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Video credit: SNTV
Team GB’s Tommy Fleetwood and Rory McIlroy of Ireland remain in the medal hunt going into the final round at the Paris Olympics, with Jon Rahm and Xander Schauffele topping a star-studded leaderboard.
Fleetwood’s superb 64 propelled him to the top of the standings after day two at Le Golf National, but a more modest 69 on Saturday – his lowest round yet – left the Englishman on 13-under.
That puts the Brit in the bronze medal position ahead of Sunday’s decisive fourth and final round, where defending champion Schauffele of the USA and Spaniard Rahm will begin as joint-leaders on 14-under.
"My swing isn't flowing. It's not where I would like it to be, but I've managed it so well all week,” Fleetwood said.
"When you can't quite push like you'd like to, it can be frustrating. But patience is an asset that everybody needs at times, and I showed that, I was happy with how I did that."
McIlroy’s bid for gold got off to a slow start, but the four-time major champion surged back with a round of 66 to finish the day 10-under.
Denmark’s Nicolai Hojgaard – who shot an unmatched tournament-best round of 62 – and Japan’s Hikedi Matsuyama (both 11-under) split McIlroy from the top three.
But the Northern Irishman has plenty of company on 10-under, with world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (USA), Tom Kim (South Korea) and Thomas Deltry (Belgium) alongside him.
Team GB’s other representative, 2022 US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick, had a day to forget as a 10-over round of 81, the worst of the day and the event so far, left him five-over for the tournament and tied for 53rd place before he pulled out with a thumb strain.
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Hojgaard’s superb round shot him back into contention, but Rahm’s climb to a share of the lead was the big talking point as the two-time major winner carded a 66.
For Fleetwood, there are happy memories to draw on as he approaches the decisive final Sunday at Le Golf National – the French course was where he inspired Europe to a Ryder Cup triumph in 2018.
But world No. 2 and Tokyo gold medallist Schauffele will be considered by many to be the man to beat as he looks to continue a golden 2024 after he won his first two majors at the PGA Championship and The Open.
McIlroy will be hoping he can muscle his way into contention as the Ireland star goes in search of a career-first Olympic medal.
"It was a really solid round of golf," said McIlroy.
"It would have been nice to be able to squeeze a couple more shots out of the back nine.
"But I think tomorrow, depending on what the leaders do, I'm going to have to probably shoot my lowest round of the week to have a chance at a medal. That's the goal."
Olympic men's golf leaderboard after Round 3
- -14: Xander Schauffele (USA), Jon Rahm (ESP)
- -13: Tommy Fleetwood (GBR)
- -11: Nicolai Hojgaard (DEN), Hideki Matsuyama (JPN)
- -10: Rory McIlroy (IRE), Scottie Scheffler (USA), Tom Kim (KOR), Thomas Deltry (BEL)
- -9: Ludvig Aberg (SWE), Jason Day (AUS), Joaquin Niemann (CHI)
discovery+ is the streaming home of the Olympic Games, and the only place you can watch every moment of Paris 2024 this summer.
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