Xander Schauffele Picks Right Up Where He Left Off at Olympics

The defending gold medalist came to Paris off a major title and continued his strong play with an opening 66.

Xander Schauffele opened with a 6-under 65 at Le Golf National. / Michael Madrid-USA TODAY Sports

SAINT QUEINTIN-EN-EVELINES, France — Xander Schauffele continued the strong play that saw him win the PGA Championship, contend at the U.S. Open and also win the British Open two weeks ago.

It just didn’t seem the same to him as he embarked on the first round of the Olympic Golf Tournament.

“The chip-in on 1 was pretty lucky,” said Schauffele, who trails first-round leader Hideki Matsuyama by a stroke. “Skanked an iron out to the right. Then skanked another iron on (No. 2) way right to the pin, was able to get up-and-down and pulled a drive on 3.

“So it wasn't sort of the dream, stripe-y start that you envision as a golfer. But I'm happy to sort of ride the ship in and get away with what could have been worse.

Schauffele played the first nine holes in 31 strokes and finished with a score of 6-under-par 65 to stand alone in second behind the Japanese star, Matsuyama.

Picking up where he left off 🔥@XSchauffele chips in for birdie to start his round @OlympicGolf!pic.twitter.com/Zz7v6vFdEk

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 1, 2024

It was a bit different than the last Olympics, which Schauffele won outside of Tokyo in 2021.

“I looked at the course, I thought of the Ryder Cup,” Schauffele said. “I was like, wow, what a venue, just the way everything sits and the way the course was designed with the moguls and mounds and everyone can kind of see.

“A lot of water everywhere. It's kind of a scene, to be honest. And was just getting across the bleachers on 1 was amazing. Everyone starts chanting. It was loud. And then it got really quiet before everyone teed off.

“I had Matthieu (Pavon of France) behind me. They were chanting his name. They're saying, ‘Let's go Blue.’ They were making it an awesome experience, no doubt.

“It was an awesome atmosphere. And the fact that there's only 20 groups, the fans sort of—it's very congested in the best way possible.”

Schauffele played with Jon Rahm, who shot 67, and Viktor Hovland, who shot 70. They will play the second round together as well.

“It was different. It felt different,” he said. “You hear some ‘USA’ chants. I think when I was on hole 2, it started to feel really different. When they were chanting Matthieu’s name while we were just out there and it was kind of echoing around the corner there, it was like this is pretty special.”

Schauffele made seven birdies and a single bogey that came at the 17th hole.

“Kind of the best thing was sort of getting over my sort of kind of clanky start,” he said. “I'd say just kind of riding the ship and using some old experience and calmness to get back on track and hit some better shots coming in. Other than that, it was just another day.”