Two of the world’s most popular players got off to a strong start in the men’s Olympic golf competition in Paris on Thursday.
Scottie Scheffler finished with four birdies and no bogeys for a four-under 67. The world No. 1 ranked player finished in a tie for sixth place, four strokes behind leader Hideki Matsuyama.
“I thought we could have put up better numbers,” Scheffler said.
“But overall I feel like I’ve done a lot of really good things and I hope to continue to do that in the coming days.”
One stroke behind Scheffler was Rory McIlroy, who had a much more eventful round, with four bogeys, including a three-putt bogey on the final hole, but he also had five birdies and an eagle on the par-5 ninth for a three-under 68.
“It was decent, a good start,” McIlroy said.
“I haven’t done a lot between the British Open and here. Some things were good, some things were not so good. The opening round was good. I was a little disappointed with the three-putt at the end. Overall, like I said, it was a good start and I’ll just keep building on it.”
The golfing world last saw McIlroy play in a tournament when he missed the cut by a large margin at Royal Troon, a loss that shocked many when he played on the famous Ayrshire links.
Scheffler, meanwhile, had a strong start at Troon but his putter just wasn’t working all weekend. He finished 136th out of 158 players in putting strokes gained and was just over three strokes behind on the green. A disastrous three-putt on the par-four ninth hole in the final round sealed his fate, missing out on a third major title and his first Claret Jug.
His putting improved somewhat on Thursday in Paris but still finished .407 strokes behind in 35th place. Still, Scheffler, unlike McIlroy, didn’t make any major mistakes in the first round.
Other notable players at four under par include Tommy Fleetwood, Sepp Straka, Jon Rahm and Alex Noren.
Overall, 41 of the 60 players who participated in the tournament finished under par in the first round. This was because Wednesday’s rain left the course damp and made for favorable scoring conditions. Players were able to aim for the flag without worry, scoring many birdies and some eagles on the first day.
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.
