Men’s major championships come around four times every year, but the fight for an Olympic gold medal on the golf course only happens once every four years.
After Round 1 at this Olympic Games, it seems fans will be getting their money’s worth. With 18 holes complete at Le Golf National, the leaderboard is packed with some of the biggest stars in the game.
Hideki Matsuyama leads the way at eight under. The former Masters champ was among the first handful of players on the course during Round 1 and he took advantage of pristine scoring conditions. His bogey-free round included eight birdies (five on the front, three on the back) as he raced out to the 18-hole lead.
“Today’s result was good,” Matsuyama said. “So I’ll take that as a positive.”
If he hopes to wear the gold around his neck come Sunday, though, he’ll have to hold off some of the best players in the game. Chief among them? World No. 2 Xander Schauffele.
Schauffele arrived in Paris looking to add to his already-sparkling 2024 resume that includes two major titles. And through 18 holes at Le Golf National, an Olympic medal is well within his reach. The newly crowned Champion Golfer of the Year carded seven birdies during his six-under 65 in Round 1, with his lone blemish on the day coming at the par-4 17th.
Lagging another shot back are a pair of South Americans with Chile’s Joaquin Niemann and Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo, both at five under. They’re joined by South Korea’s Tom Kim, who is competing in his first Olympic Games as he looks to medal and earn an exemption from his country’s mandatory military service.
“It doesn’t worry me at all,” Kim said of the pressure of earning a medal. “It’s not on my mind at all and I’m trying to focus on my game.”
Another shot back sits a logjam of competitors — nine, to be exact — who posted four under on the day. Among them are two-time major winner Jon Rahm and World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler.
“I felt like I could have posted a better number,” Scheffler said. “But overall felt like I did a lot of really good things and hoping to continue that over the next few days.”
If Scheffler — as well as the other stars — are able to accomplish that mission, fans following the race to the podium are sure to be in for a treat.