Anyone who tuned in to watch Xander Schauffele and Jon Rahm play at Le Golf National on Friday was in for a treat.
On the second day of the Olympic men’s golf competition, both Schauffele and Rahm shot 5-under 66 to surge up the rankings.
Schauffele, who won the PGA Championship and British Open this season and is in the running to unseat Scottie Scheffler for the Player of the Year award, improved to 11 under par after 36 holes.
Meanwhile, Rahm is two strokes behind at nine under par.
“Five under par is a good score at this facility,” Schauffele said.
“Overall, we’re in a good position heading into the weekend.”
When Schauffele left the golf course he was tied for the lead with Hideki Matsuyama, who shot an impressive 8-under 63 on the first day, and Englishman Tommy Fleetwood, who stunned Le Golf National with a 7-under 64 on Friday.
Schauffele, Matsuyama and Fleetwood were still in the lead at the end of the day. Still, cash medalist Schauffele enters the weekend in great position to make the podium again. But he’s been here before, especially recently. Since winning his first major at Valhalla in early May, he’s arguably the best player in the sport. Schauffele was also the Golfer of the Year at Royal Troon, so it’s no surprise he’s doing well in France.
Rahm, meanwhile, struggled through the first six months of the year, playing poorly at Augusta National, missing the cut at Louisville and then withdrawing from the U.S. Open with a foot injury, but the Spaniard has been on a roll in recent weeks, performing well at Royal Troon and winning his first career tournament at LIV Golf in the UK last week.
“We were in a good position today and hopefully we can keep it going into the weekend,” Rahm said, echoing Schauffele’s comments.
“It’s good to be back on the world stage and in a good position. I was in a good position in the Open but just wasn’t good enough to have a chance on Sunday. I finished in the top 10 but a win didn’t seem real.”
But Rahm has a great chance this week to win the gold medal, which would be his biggest win of the year. If he can hit the drives like he did on Friday, hitting 13 of 14 fairways, it will surely be Rahm who decides who makes the podium on Sunday.
“I only missed the fairway once. The golf course isn’t long, so you don’t have a chance, right? When you hit the ball in the fairway, most of the time it’s a short iron in,” Rahm said when asked what he was most pleased about from Friday’s round.
“But overall, I hit the ball really well. It’s always fun to play a day when you can swing and the ball is always on track and almost always the right distance, right? That means it’s going to be a fun day, and today was a fun day.”
There’s no doubt that Rahm had a lot of fun on Friday, but so did Schauffele, and if the pair can continue their strong play over the final 36 holes, golf fans watching will be in for a treat.
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.
