Cup drivers taking advantage of the two-week break by resting, relaxing and, in some cases, racing. The series returns Aug. 8 at Watkins Glen.
KAWAGOE, Japan — Xander Schauffele didn’t have a lot go his way until finishing on a strong note Saturday, a superb shot to 3 feet for birdie that left him 18 holes away from an Olympic gold medal. The podium still felt like a long way off. RELATED: Leaderboard, tee times | How the format works | Inside the Field: WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational Five players had a share of the lead at some point in the third round. Schauffele, Japanese star Hideki Matsuyama and Carlos Ortiz of Mexico were still tied playing the 18th hole at Kasumigaseki Country Club. Schauffele, who spent much of his round in the bunkers and dense rough, managed to end the day with a one-shot lead, in the same spot he started. From the fairway — foreign turf for him on this day — he hit a 9-iron that landed softly just belong the cup. The birdie gave him a 3-under 68. He’s at 14-under 199. Right there with him was Matsuyama, the Masters champion on whom Japan has pinned its hopes on a gold medal. He was recovering from COVID-19 just under a month ago and said he never would have guessed being in this position. Matsuyama had a 67 and will be in the final group along with Paul Casey, who shot a 66 in his bid to keep the Olympic gold medal in golf with Britain. He was two shots behind along with Ortiz, who made bogey from the bunker on the 18th hole. Saturday had all the trappings of a shootout, with eight players separated by a mere three shots. That’s not unusual at golf’s highest level, except only three walk away with a medal. Matsuyama and Schauffele played in the final group at the Masters. Matsuyama started with a four-shot lead and Schauffele, whose mother was raised in Japan, made a late charge that ended with a tee shot into the water on the par-3 16th. “I’m sure Xander will come out determined to win the gold medal tomorrow,” Matsuyama said. Matsuyama finished off the rain-delayed second round in the morning with a 64 to get into the final group. He caught up to the lead with a bunker shot to short range for birdie on the 17th, and had to save par from the rough on the last hole. Could he have envisioned this when he was recovering at home? “I definitely would not have believed it,” Matsuyama said, adding that he would have been most concerned with his endurance. That tested the entire 60-man field in stifling heat with only an occasional zephyr to circulate some air on the tree-lined course. Thomas Bach, the International Olympic Committee president, joined PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan under a tent next to the first tee to watch the final group start. Even with no spectators, Matsuyama still attracted some 250 people, most of them volunteers, all of them hanging on every shot by Matsuyama. “It does not feel like we don’t have fans out here,” Matsuyama said. Action came from every corner of Kasumigaseki. Rory McIlroy, indifferent about the Olympics until he arrived in Tokyo and already looking forward to Paris in 2024, made an early move until he was slowed by a poor pitch that kept him from birdie on the par-5 14th and a three-putt bogey on the 16th hole. He bounced back with a birdie and finished with a 67. McIlroy was three shots behind, along with Sebastian Munoz of Colombia (66), Mito Pereira of Chile (68) and Sepp Straka of Austria (68). All were very much in the mix for gold. Others were still hopeful of any medal, a list that suddenly includes Sungjae Im. The 23-year-old South Korean needs an Olympic medal to earn an exemption from mandatory military service, though this isn’t his last chance. Im was 12 shots out of the lead and was the third player this week to match the Olympic record with a 63. He was still seven behind, though another big round could keep him in bronze range. Schauffele has been trying to treat this as any other tournament, and it felt like one Saturday. “Tomorrow may feel a little different,” he said. “There’s a little bit more on the line than what we normally play for, and you’re obviously trying to represent your country to the best of your ability. So that’s why I’ll be on the range tonight.” His swing was out of sorts from the start, and his father, Stefan, kept a monocular to his right eye and could see flaws that weren’t there during his warm-up session, most of the shots to the left. Schauffele delivered key par putts, and a pair of birdies on the easier scoring holes, to keep the round and the lead from getting away from him. He was in trouble on the ninth, in the trees off the tees and having to lay up to the fairway. He escaped with par by making a 25-foot putt. “Your putter doesn’t know how bad you’re swinging it,” Schauffele said. “We’re getting it done right now. So I would like tomorrow to be a little bit more fun all round.”
Xander Schauffele leads Hideki Matusyama by one shot headed into the final round Sunday. Will the American beat the Japanese player on his home soil?
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The top female golfers on the planet take over at Kasumigaseki Country Club this week competing for Olympic medals. There was both a men’s and women’s golf competition in the 1900 and 1904 Olympic games, and it made its return for 2016. After being postponed due the COVID-19 pandemic, the women’s golf competition returns this week after the men’s event wraps up. FIELD NOTES: Both the United States and South Korea are sending four golfers to compete in the 60-woman Olympic field… The South Korean contingent includes Jin Young Ko, Inbee Park, Sei Young Kim, and Hyo-Joo Kim while the American squad is made up of sisters Jessica and Nelly Korda (Nelly Korda is the No.1-ranked golfer in the world), Danielle Kang, and two-time Olympian Lexi Thompson… Recent Amundi Evian Championship winner Minjee Lee is competing for the first time since her maiden major triumph, representing Australia alongside fellow major winner Hannah Green… The three medalists from 2016 are all returning for 2021. Inbee Park (South Korea) won gold, while Lydia Ko (New Zealand) won silver, and Shanshan Feng (China) won bronze… Mexico’s Gaby Lopez has already spent a long time in the Olympic Village – she skipped The Evian Championship so then she could be country’s flag-bearer at the Opening Ceremonies… Like Hideki Matsuyama on the men’s side, multi-time LPGA Tour winner Nasa Hatakoa will have lots of home-country pressure. She and Mone Inami will represent Japan. RACE TO CME GLOBE: N/A COURSE: Kasumigaseki Country Club (East Course), par 71, 6,648 yards. The same course used in the men’s Olympic golf competition, Kasumigaseki will play about 800 yards shorter for the women but given its length it’ll be a stern test. Founded in the 1920s, this private golf course about an hour from Tokyo’s downtown area first hosted the Canada Cup (now the World Cup of Golf) in 1957. Most recently it hosted the Asian Amateur Championship in 2010, and the East Course was re-designed by Tom and Logan Fazio in 2016 to ready itself for the Olympics. STORYLINES: While the American squad was kept off the podium in 2016, this time around Team USA boasts the No.1 golfer in the world in Nelly Korda… Nearly all of the top female golfers decided to participate in the Olympics – some of whom didn’t even play in the most recent major championship in order to prepare for the Games – including all four of the major winners so far in 2021 (the LPGA Tour has five majors on its schedule): Patty Tavatanakit (Thailand, ANA Inspiration), Yuka Saso (Philippines, U.S. Women’s Open), Nelly Korda (U.S.A., KPMG Women’s PGA Championship), and Minjee Lee (Australia, Evian Championship)… Watch out for Matilda Castren. An LPGA Tour rookie from last season, she won her first LPGA title at the LPGA MEDIHEAL Championship (she’s from Finland and is the only European to win on the LPGA Tour this season) and then won on the Ladies European Tour in mid-July… Both the female winner (Inbee Park) and the male winner (Justin Rose) shot matching 16-under 268 scores in 2016 to win gold… The women’s competition begins at 6:30 p.m. EST on Tuesday August 3 and runs for the next four days, concluding on Saturday August 7 at 3:30 a.m. EST. It is a 72-hole stroke play event with no cut, and the top-three finishers on the leaderboard will win medals. If golfers end up tied for any medal, there will be a playoff to determine a winner. 72-HOLE RECORD: 268, Inbee Park (South Korea, 2016) 18-HOLE RECORD: 62, Maria Verchenova (Russia, Fourth Round, 2016) LAST TIME: Inbee Park shot 16-under (which included three rounds of 66) to dominate the women’s Olympic golf competition, winning gold by five shots over Lydia Ko. Ko won silver after finishing at 11-under for the week. Park was one shot back of Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn after an opening-round 65 but Jutanugarn was forced to withdraw in the third round with a knee injury. Park led by one through 36 holes and two shots through 54 holes, but she the chasers applied no pressure to her in the final round and she cruised to victory. There was a close race for the bronze medal, which was eventually won by Shanshan Feng at 10-under. Stacy Lewis (U.S.A.), Haru Nomura (Japan), and Amy Yang (South Korea) shot rounds of 66, 65, and 67, respectively, in the final round but ended up one-shot short of Feng’s medal-winning total. HOW TO FOLLOW (All times ET) Television: Tuesday-Friday, 6:30 p.m.-3 a.m. ET (Golf Channel). There is an extra 30 minutes of broadcast time in the final round for the medal ceremony.
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