U.S. Golfers Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele Play Well, Embrace Olympic Golf Atmosphere

PARIS — The world’s No. 1- and No. 2-ranked golfers, Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele, got off to strong starts on the opening day of the men’s Olympic golf tournament at Le Golf National. 

Schauffele who arrived to Paris carrying the momentum of two major tournament victories this season – the British Open and PGA Championships – shot a six-under par round of 65, trailing first round leader Hideki Matsuyama by just two strokes. He chipped in on hole number one for birdie, one of five on his front nine, but insisted that the day could have turned out much better.

“It wasn’t the dream stripee start that you envision as a golfer, but I was happy to ride the ship in and get away with worse,” Schauffele said, slightly downplaying a solid round.

Schauffele and his partners Jon Rahm of Spain and Viktor Hovland of Norway completed the 18th hole after a short delay due to suspended play for threat of lightning. 

The two-time Masters champion Scheffler shot a four-under par 67, and stands four behind Matsuyama.

“I felt like I could have posted a better number, but I did a lot of really good things and I hope I can continue that over the coming days,” Scheffler said.

Schauffele and Scheffler were both pleasingly surprised with the course, venue lay-out and especially the overall atmosphere straight out of the gate.

“I looked at the course and I thought of the Ryder Cup (held at Le Golf National in 2018) and I was like ‘wow, what a venue’ with the way the course is designed with the moguls and mounds and how everyone could see,” Schauffele said. “There’s a lot of water everywhere and it’s kind of a scene to be honest."

“I had Matthieu (Pavon) behind me, they were chanting his name saying ‘Let’s go Bleu’ – they were making it an awesome experience. I heard there was like 18-20,000 people here today,” he said, referring to France’s top golfer, while also noting that he heard some USA chants from the sizeable crowd.

Scheffler offered a similar take: “It was nice playing in front of a big crowd – they were cheering loud for us and it was a pretty fun – I was definitely not expecting that.”

The par-71 Albatross course, which plays 7,174 yards this week, was home to the 2018 Ryder Cup, an event that the American squad didn’t fare well at. If Thursday was any indication, it appears the results of this week’s four-round individual stroke play Olympic tournament will be a whole different story.

Perhaps business as usual for the major champions on the course, but off of it they’ve been inspired by performances from other world class athletes at wide-ranging competitions around Paris.

Schauffele – who won gold at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 and is defending his title this week – wasn’t able to relish a true Olympic experience due to restrictions from the pandemic. He said he’s trying to make the fullest of his second Olympic Games.

“I went to a swimming the other night, which really put things in perspective – it was really cool,” said the tour pro from San Diego. “I was there when the French swimmer Léon Marchand qualified for both semifinals, the U.S. girls did pretty good and Bobby Finke, he finished second in the 1,500-meter. We were sitting in the stands and I’m thinking how long would it take me to do this – 45 minutes,” he said with a laugh.

Scheffler and his wife, Meredith, saw Simone Biles and the U.S. women’s gymnastics team bring home gold.

“I was amazed at their poise – for one tournament to have such emphasis every four years is really challenging,” Scheffler said. “For us to witness how poised they are with all the expectations placed on them in the U.S., for them to go in and win is just really special.”

Round two starts at 1 a.m. ET on Friday with the U.S. golfers teeing off in the same groups as the opening round. Schauffele is confident, but also cautious, about what Le Golf National presents.

“It’s there for the taking if you’re hitting it in the fairway, but there’s a lot of water and you can make a mess of it also,” he said.

Scheffler both kidded about and praised seeing all of his usual competitors, adorned in national colors and in particular the Aussies, who donned green slacks and yellow shirts.

“They look ok, but the United States looks the best, obviously,” Scheffler joked, eliciting a big laugh from the assembled journalists. “It’s really special seeing everyone playing for their countries.”