Hideki Matsuyama reached the 18th tee with a one-stroke lead over Tommy Fleetwood after consecutive birdies on the previous two holes.
But disaster struck on the final hole at Le Golf National, one of the most difficult on the course. Matsuyama drove to the right of the fairway and the ball came to rest on an awkward, faint lie on the side of a hill, forcing him to lay up just short of the green, where the putting surface was protected by water. But Matsuyama couldn’t recover well, gouging the ball on his second shot, which traveled just 66 yards. The ball couldn’t escape the rough, forcing Matsuyama to hit a tricky third shot from 122 yards away.
The 2021 Masters winner then dropped his third shot into the water for a double bogey, erasing his two-stroke lead. He said he tried to play it safe, hoping for a bogey at worst, but the wind engulfed his ball and he fished it out.
Still, Matsuyama was tied with Fleetwood and Xander Schauffele for the lead at 11 under par going into Saturday’s third round and has a good chance to bring home the gold medal for his native Japan.
“The Olympics is fun and exciting, but at the same time it’s tough competition,” Matsuyama said after finishing with a 3-under 68.
“I think there will be some difficult challenges ahead, so I want to overcome them. I want to win this and enjoy the final day.”
Matsuyama had seven birdies and two bogeys before faltering on the 18th hole and was five under after 17 holes, but he’s not dwelling on the result, he’s just looking ahead to the next 36 holes.
“It was tough at the end because I got birdies today, but I want to play well tomorrow,” Matsuyama said.
“I don’t know what the wind direction will be tomorrow, or if the temperature will drop, so I’ll look at the situation tomorrow morning and make a plan. I’m really enjoying my second Olympics. But while I’m playing golf, I’m concentrating and thinking, just like always. There are good and bad times, but I want to do my best so that I can finish the fourth day feeling happy.”
All Matsuyama wants is the satisfaction of knowing that gold, silver and bronze medals will be awarded to the top three finishers in the final round of the Olympics. He is hungry for a podium finish after narrowly missing out on it in Tokyo three years ago, losing to CT Pan in a 7-1 playoff to decide the bronze medalist.
But Matsuyama feels that experience won’t help him this time around, and he’s focused only on the task at hand.
“I don’t know what I will get from Tokyo, but all I can do is try my best to win,” Matsuyama added.
“During the round, I didn’t even think about what was good or what was going well. I’m really trying to get my score down, but I think I had a good balance this time and had a lot of birdies, so I’ll do my best tomorrow.”
When Matsuyama is at his best, he is arguably one of the best players in the world. His opening round and win at Riviera earlier this year was proof of that. He also played superbly through the first 17 holes on Friday. So if he can overcome this poor performance, which he certainly can, I have no doubt Matsuyama will be competing for the gold medal on Sunday afternoon.
Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation Playing Through. Follow For more golf articles, follow us on Twitter Jack Mirko In the same way.
