SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France — Victor Perez of France repeatedly banged his fist over his head before the opening tee shot on Thursday, celebrating the start of the Olympic golf in front of a large and strident fans at home.
And then Hideki Matsuyama quietly went about his business with an 8-under 63 and a two-shot lead in Le Golf Nacional. Close behind was a familiar figure – Xander Schauffele, 10 days removed from his British Open title and playing like he hadn’t missed a beat.
The surprise was outside the ropes – almost 20,000 spectators in sweltering heat, walking over rough terrain and seeing unusually low scores due to overnight rain smoothing the course.
Matsuyama, who lost in a seven-man playoff for bronze in Tokyo Gamesmade six birdies in 10 holes and kept a clean card with a par save of 15 feet on the 17th.
“Luckily, I was able to keep the ball in the field and had several chances to score,” Matsuyama said. “So, in that aspect, I am satisfied with the final result. But there are also still a number of things I could improve. I definitely got off to a great start and hopefully I can keep the momentum going for the rest of the week.”
The opening round slowed toward the end as storm clouds moved in, causing two delays because of lightning in the area. Schauffele had to abandon the course on the 18th tee, made par again and then another delay set in.
Mexico’s Carlos Ortiz was challenging for the lead amid stop-and-go action. He hit his tee shot into the water on the par-3 16th for a double bogey and then a bogey at the end. He had to settle for a 69.
Joaquin Niemann from Chile, Emiliano Grillo from Argentina and Tom Kim from South Korea were 66 years old, being Masters champions and tournament favorite, Scottie Scheffler at 67.
Niemann is among seven players from LIV Golf, financed by Saudi Arabia, on the field, with no guarantee of being in the majors next year. An Olympic gold medal puts him in all four next year.
Any Olympic medal would be important to Kim, 22, because it would exempt him from mandatory military service in South Korea. He would still have at least one more Olympic chance, although he said that is not on his mind.
“It doesn’t worry me at all,” Kim said.
Scheffler’s family was out in full force, including 3-month-old son Bennett, who was woken up by the crowd when he birdied the opening hole.
“I really didn’t know what to expect. The last few days it has been quite calm on the field,” said Scheffler. “But it was good to play in front of a good crowd – a big crowd. It was very funny. Definitely more people than I expected.”
As for golf, Scheffler felt he could have gotten a lower score, but had few complaints. He played alongside Rory McIlroy and Ludvig Aberg, who each scored 68.
That was the main group at the start, and the fans formed eight people around the first green and second hole, with the kids on their dad’s shoulders, all with phones in hand to capture what they could.
They saw good scoring, with 41 players of the 60-player field under par.
But the biggest lesson was off the ropes.
“The first tee was not just a Ryder Cup, but much more than a normal tournament, for sure, and much more than you would see on a Thursday,” said Collin Morikawa.
He played with Matthieu Pavon, the other French player on the field. The gallery began to sing “La Marseillaise” when they saw him on the bridge leading to the first tee box, and applauded Pavon so loudly that the players could hear him two or three holes away.
Pavon birdied the first hole and got even louder, although he only had one more birdie that day in his round of 72.
Schauffele was in the group ahead of Pavon.
“When they shouted Matthieu’s name and it echoed around the corner, it was like, ‘This is really special,’” Schauffele said. “For me, Tokyo was very special, obviously, but there were no fans. The city was closed. I was stuck in my hotel room.
“Going out to dinner, seeing people everywhere, seeing fans singing everywhere, it feels like I’m here for the first time.”
Schauffele posting 65 was a good start for those aiming for another gold medal. It was harder than it looked. He scored birdie on the first hole. He had to get up and down to get par on the next one. He missed the fairway on the par-5 third and still had a good look at birdie.
“It wasn’t the kind of dream start you imagine as a golfer,” he said. “But I’m happy to board the ship and get away with what could have been worse. I missed a few shots coming up. But it’s Thursday. I’m really not sweating much.”
___
This story originally appeared on ABCNews.go.com read the full story
