Olympics Men's Golf Leaderboard: Hideki Matsuyama Leads Xander Schauffele

Golf is back in the Olympics for the third consecutive Games and the men go first at Le Golf National this week, with the women's event starting on Wednesday.

Scoring was low in perfect weather for round one, with the greens softened from heavy rain and thunderstorms overnight.

Japan's Hideki Matsuyama took advantage of the conditions to lead the way after a stunning bogey-free eight-under-par round of 63. He made five birdies in his opening nine and came back in three-under, saving two fine pars on the closing two holes with a long par putt on 17 before a sand save at the 18th.

"Today's result was good. So I'll take that as a positive," Matsuyama, who missed out in the bronze medal playoff at Tokyo 2020, said.

"My putts went in the cup well today. My shots went into the fairway, too. So I had a lot of chances, so I'm happy. I'm glad I was able to finish the day in the top spot."

He's two clear of Champion Golfer of the Year and reigning Olympic gold medallist Xander Schauffele, who carded seven birdies and a solitary bogey to shoot 65 (-6).

LIV Golf's Joaquin Niemann shot a five-under 66, which was matched by Emiliano Grillo and Tom Kim, with nine players at four-under including World No.1 Scottie Scheffler, Tommy Fleetwood and Jon Rahm.

Rory McIlroy carded a three-under 68 in a round featuring five birdies, an eagle and four dropped shots.

Play was suspended and briefly continued for 20 minutes but was stopped again at 5.25pm local time in Paris (11.25am ET).

Olympics golf leaderboard

• -8 Hideki Matsuyama (Japan)
• -6 Xander Schauffele (USA)
• -5 Joaquin Niemann (Chile)
• -5 Emiliano Grillo (Argentina)
• -5 Tom Kim (South Korea)
• -4 Alex Noren (Sweden)
• -4 Ryan Fox (New Zealand)
• -4 Tommy Fleetwood (Great Britain)
• -4 Sepp Straka (Austria)
• -4 Scottie Scheffler (USA)
• -4 Sami Valimaki (Finland)
• -4 Erik van Rooyen (South Africa)
• -4 Jon Rahm (Spain)
• -4 Carlos Ortiz (Mexico)
• -3 Matthias Schmid (Germany)
• -3 Alejandro Tosti (Argentina)
• -3 Corey Conners (Canada)
• -3 Rory McIlroy (Ireland)
• -3 Ludvig Aberg (Sweden)
• -3 Guido Migliozzi (Italy)
• -3 Viktor Hovland (Norway)
• -3 Mito Pereira (Chile)
• -3 Joel Girrbach (Switzerland)
• -2 CT Pan (Chinese Taipei)
• -2 Jason Day (Australia)
• -2 Zecheng Dou (China)
• -2 Matteo Manassero (Italy)
• -2 David Puig (Spain)
• -2 Tapio Pulkkanen (Finland)
• -1 Victor Perez (France)
• -1 Christiaan Bezuidenhout (South Africa)
• -1 Adrien Dumont de Chassart (Belgium)
• -1 Phachara Khongwatmai (Thailand)
• -1 Abraham Ancer (Mexico)
• -1 Yechun Yuan (China)
• -1 Keita Nakajima (Japan)
• -1 Nicolai Hojgaard (Denmark)
• -1 Nick Taylor (Canada)
• -1 Viktor Hovland (Norway)
• -1 Collin Morikawa (USA)
• -1 Shubhankar Sharma (India)
• -1 Fabrizio Zanotti (Paraguay)
• E Thorbjorn Olesen (Denmark)
• E Stephan Jaeger (Germany)
• E Thomas Detry (Belgium)
• E Shane Lowry (Ireland)
• E Matthieu Pavon (France)

• Olympics Men's Golf Tee Times
• How To Watch The Men's Olympic Golf
• Olympics Golf 2028 Venue
• Perks Of Winning Olympic Gold
• Olympics Golf Format Explained

Good morning and welcome to the first round of the 2024 men's Olympic golf competition.

The weather is beautiful in Paris and the course looks great too, with 60 players hoping to put a low score on the board on day one.

TOUGH START FOR WYNDHAM CLARK

The 2023 US Open champion bogeyed the 1st and has made double at the par-3 2nd after chunking his tee shot into the water. He's three-over after two holes.

LUDVIG ABERG INTO THE WATER ON 1

The Swede is one of the favorites for gold but he's hit a poor tee shot down the 1st, pulling it into the water. Will do well to make par.

MICHAEL PHELPS ON-SITE

The legendary swimmer, who is the most decorated Olympian of all time, loves his golf and it's great to see him at Le Golf National this morning showing his support.

MCILROY IN CLOSE AT THE 1ST

The World No.3 will have a good look for birdie on the 1st from around 10ft. Aberg has hit it in tight to save his par after finding the water. Scheffler has around 20ft for birdie.

SCHEFFLER BIRDIE!

The World No.1 rolls in a 20-footer at the 1st and he gets off to the perfect start.

MCILROY BIRDIE PUTT SLIDES BY

It's a par for McIlroy at the 1st.

DIFFICULT START FOR MIN WOO LEE

Lee is bottom of the leaderboard alongside Wyndham Clark at three-over after a double at the 1st and then another bogey at the par-5 3rd.

FLEETWOOD UNDER PAR

The Team GB star rolls in a six-footer at the par-5 3rd to get under par.

MCILROY STRUGGLING AT 2

Team Ireland's McIlroy misses the green to the right of the par-3 2nd and his bunker shot goes well long of the pin. Looks like a bogey is on its way.

MCILROY BOGEY

McIlroy does indeed bogey the 2nd. His tee shot pushed into the bunker did the damage there, albeit his sand shot wasn't the best either.

NIEMANN THE FIRST MAN TO -3

The LIV Golf money list leader follows up his eagle at the 3rd with a birdie at the 6th to become the first man to reach three-under-par.

SCHEFFLER, WOW.

Scottie just missed the hole by about an inch or two with his 3-wood into the par-5 3rd. He's ran around 20ft past the pin so is looking likely to make at least a birdie.

STUNNING CHIP FROM MCILROY

The World No.3 plays an explosion-style shot from the thick tough at the 3rd and it rolls up to tap-in distance. He gets back to level par after that dropped shot at the 2nd.

WYNDHAM CLARK STRUGGLES CONTINUE

The World No.5 is currently in last-place of the players on the course right now at four-over after 4 holes.

SCHEFFLER BIRDIES 3

A very easy birdie for the World No.1. His second shot was truly stunning and so nearly dropped for an albatross. Great start!

ABERG ALSO BIRDIES 3

The star trio of Scheffler-Aberg-McIlroy all birdie the 3rd.

Ludvig is now one of 15 men under par.

MATTI SCHMID TO THREE-UNDER

The German, who is a past Open silver medallist, birdies 3, 6 and 7 to join Joaquin Niemann at the top of the leaderboard.

OLYMPIC MEN'S TEE TIMES STILL TO COME:

(ET/BST)

• 5.06am (10.06am): Adrian Meronk (Poland), Sami Valimaki (Finland), David Puig (Spain)
• 5.17am (10.17am): Erik van Rooyen (South Africa), Keita Nakajima (Japan), Kevin Yu (Chinese Taipei)
• 5.33am (10.33am): Stephan Jaeger (Germany), Nicolai Højgaard (Denmark), Thomas Detry (Belgium)
• 5.44am (10.44am): Byeong Hun An (Korea), Shane Lowry (Ireland), Nick Taylor (Canada)
• 5.55am (10.55am): Xander Schauffele (USA), Viktor Hovland (Norway), Jon Rahm (Spain)
• 6.06am (11.06am): Matthieu Pavon (France), Collin Morikawa (USA), Matt Fitzpatrick (Great Britain)
• 6.17am (11.17am): Shubhankar Sharma (India), Rafael Campos (Puerto Rico), Carlos Ortiz (Mexico)
• 6.28am (11.28am): Nico Echavarria (Colombia), Mito Pereira (Chile), Kris Ventura (Norway)
• 6.39am (11.39am): Fabrizio Zanotti (Paraguay), Joel Girrbach (Switzerland), Tapio Pulkkanen (Finland)

NIEMANN TO FOUR-UNDER!

The LIV star birdies the 8th and he's the first man to four-under-par. Matti Schmid just made a bogey so Niemann has a two-stroke lead at the top.

NIEMANN FLYING.

Here's how he's started:

• Par
• Par
• Eagle
• Par
• Par
• Birdie
• Par
• Birdie

CONNERS CLOSES TO WITHIN ONE

The Canadian PGA Tour star moves to three-under and within one of Niemann's lead after back-to-back birdies at 6 and 7.

HUGE BIRDIE FROM MCILROY!

The World No.2 rolls in a monster from outside 30ft at the par-4 5th to get back to under par.

HUGE PUTT FOR FLEETWOOD

Team GB star Tommy Fleetwood moves to within two of the lead after a monster birdie putt at the 8th.

Lots of movement on the leaderboard this morning at Le Golf National in perfect conditions. Niemann still leads by one but the pack below is charging, including Tom Kim who has three birdies in four holes.

THREE-WAY TIE AT THE TOP

Matti Schmid has joined Niemann at four-under after birdies at 10 and 11, while Hideki Matsuyama has also moved to the top after back-to-back birdies at 7 and 8.

MATTHIEU PAVON ON THE TEE

The home hero has received a stunning reception on the 1st tee and ran in high-fiving the crowd. Pavon has had a superb year after winning his maiden PGA Tour title at the Farmers Insurance Open early in the season.

Meanwhile, Xander Schauffele has got his gold medal defense underway and he's missed the 1st green in two.

REMAINING OLYMPICS TEE TIMES TO COME

(ET/BST)

• 6.06am (11.06am): Matthieu Pavon (France), Collin Morikawa (USA), Matt Fitzpatrick (Great Britain)
• 6.17am (11.17am): Shubhankar Sharma (India), Rafael Campos (Puerto Rico), Carlos Ortiz (Mexico)
• 6.28am (11.28am): Nico Echavarria (Colombia), Mito Pereira (Chile), Kris Ventura (Norway)
• 6.39am (11.39am): Fabrizio Zanotti (Paraguay), Joel Girrbach (Switzerland), Tapio Pulkkanen (Finland)

SCHAUFFELE CHIP-IN!

After missing the green to the right of the 1st hole, the defending gold medallist and two-time Major champion chips it in for a stunning birdie. What a start!

MATSUYAMA LEADS

The Japanese star, winner of the 2021 Masters, birdies the 9th for his third in a row to turn in five-under-par. He leads by one.

MATSUYAMA'S FRONT NINE:

• Par
• Birdie
• Birdie
• Par
• Par
• Par
• Birdie
• Birdie
• Birdie

MATSUYAMA JOINED AT THE TOP!

Germany's Matthias Schmid has made his third birdie in four holes (and his sixth of the day) to join the lead at five-under.

MATSUYAMA TO SIX!

Hideki becomes the first man to reach six-under-par thanks to his fourth consecutive birdie at the 10th after pouring in a long-range putt.

Matthieu Pavon has just birdied the 1st - he is really embracing this. Big fist pump and the crowd are loving him.

LOW SCORING AT LE GOLF NATIONAL

Conditions are just perfect and Le Golf National is looking sensational in the Parisien sunshine.

We have 26 players under par from 51 to have completed at least one hole - which according to my maths says that over half the field are under par.

WYNDHAM CLARK UPDATE

For those following along earlier, Wyndham Clark has managed to get himself back to two-over.

The World No.5 was four-over after four holes but birdied the 9th and 10th.

EAGLE FOR MCILROY!

The World No.3 hit a stunning shot into the par-5 9th and rolled in his eagle putt perfectly from inside 10ft. He's made a huge jump up the leaderboard after being one-over thru 2.

Scheffler birdied the 9th so he is at three-under, too.

SCHMID JOINS THE LEAD AGAIN

The German is matching Hideki Matsuyama shot-for-shot and the pair are now two clear at the top. Schmid has now birdied four of his last five holes and has seven birdies in total thru 14.

MATTHIAS SCHMID IS HAVING A DAY

The World No.147, who was the low amateur at the 2021 Open, has made seven birdies in 14 holes so far at Le Golf National.

JON RAHM EAGLE

The LIV Golf star and two-time Major winner chipped in at the 3rd for an eagle at the par 5. Great start after his win last week at LIV Golf UK.

His teammate and fellow LIV Golfer David Puig is going even better at three-under after six thanks to birdies at 3, 4 and 5.

LUDVIG ABERG TO FOUR-UNDER

The World No.4, playing in the star grouping alongside Scheffler and McIlroy, has just made his fifth birdie of the day to move to within two of the lead.

MATSUYAMA COULD EASILY BE TWO CLEAR

Hideki is playing great golf today but he's missed two birdie putts inside 15ft on the last two holes. Could easily be eight-under!

NIEMANN TO FIVE-UNDER

The LIV Golf star has just birdied the par-5 14th to move within one. He has three birdies, one eagle and zero bogeys so far today.

SCHMID IN TROUBLE

The German spins his ball back off the green into the water at the difficult 15th. That's going to be at least a bogey you'd think.

The closing stretch at Le Golf National is notoriously difficult, so we can expect players to fight for pars towards the latter stages.

AMAZING SUPPORT FOR HOME STAR MATTHIEU PAVON

SCHMID DOUBLE BOGEY

The German did indeed double bogey the 15th after spinning his ball back off the green and into the water. A costly mistake that drops him two back of Hideki Matsuyama - who may be about to go to seven-under.

RYAN FOX TO FIVE-UNDER

The New Zealander is putting together a superb round here with five birdies and no bogeys thu 14.

MATSUYAMA TO SEVEN-UNDER

Another stunning iron shot left Matsuyama with a kick-in birdie at the 13th to reach seven under.

7 birdies. 6 pars. What a round he's having.

NIEMANN TO SIX

The Chilean hit a great approach into the difficult 15th and managed to roll the birdie putt in to get to six-under.

38 PLAYERS UNDER PAR

Scoring conditions remain ideal today at Le Golf National - it's a day to go low!

MCILROY DROPS BACK

The World No.3 bogeyed the 10th and 12th to fall back to one-under.

He does have the par-5 14th to come before the demanding finishing stretch. He'll hope to get in at two-under or better on what is a very low scoring first day.

ANOTHER BIRDIE FOR MATSUYAMA

He finds the par-5 14th green in two and just misses his eagle putt from 18ft for a tap-in birdie.

That's eight birdies, no bogeys in 14 holes. Some round.

BIRDIE FOR MCILROY

McIlroy's lovely approach into the par-4 13th nestled on the fringe around 10ft past the hole and he's rolled it in to get back to two-under.

MCILROY BACK TO THREE-UNDER

Birdies at 13 and 14 for the World No.3 gets him back to -3.

NIEMANN FINISHES AT FIVE-UNDER

The LIV Golfer is clubhouse leader at five-under with a 66. He bogeyed the 18th after a wayward drive.

Some round from the Chilean who made one eagle, four birdies and a solitary bogey.

SAMI VALIMAKI TO SIX-UNDER

The Finnish star rolls in his sixth birdie in 11 holes to move up to 2nd-place on his own.

GRILLO MATCHES NIEMANN'S 66 WITH STUNNING BUNKER HOLE-OUT

Argentina's Emiliano Grillo ties the clubhouse lead with a 66 after holing a bunker shot for birdie at the 18th.

He made seven birdies and two bogeys.

MATTHIAS SCHMID ON HIS ROUND:

" Conditions were great. I don't think the course is going to play much easier than it is today. I played pretty good, I must say. I hit most fairways, hit many greens, got a lot of looks. Just a couple bad swings towards the end which was really costly but that's golf. The round is 18 holes but the tournament is still long. I'm playing well. We'll see."

MCILROY CHARGING!

The four-time Major winner rolls in his third consecutive birdie at the difficult par-4 15th hole to climb to four-under-par. A superb charge after bogeys at 10 and 12.

HUGE PAR SAVE ON 17 FOR MATSUYAMA

A poor drive looked like it could cost the Japanese star a bogey at the 17th but he managed to hole from 15ft to save par. Massive save to keep himself two clear at the top.

XANDER SCHAUFFELE DOING XANDER SCHAUFFELE THINGS

The World No.2 and defending gold medallist has just put an excellent front nine on the board to turn in 31 (-5).

Five birdies, four pars and in a lovely sequence of birdie-par-birdie-par-birdie-par-birdie-par-birdie.

MATSUYAMA INTO THE 18TH

After his epic par save on 17, Hideki pulls his approach left into the greenside bunker on the final hole. Will have an up-and-down for a 63.

PUIG TO FIVE-UNDER

The LIV Golf star made five birdies in his first 11 holes, and he's just parred the 12th, to sit in T3rd now with just two men ahead of him.

VICTOR PEREZ ON 'ONCE IN A LIFETIME' FIRST TEE SHOT

"I told myself on the range, I told my caddie, James, let's be there the full ten minutes before and really soak it in all in. It's definitely a once-in-a-lifetime. I'll never hit this tee shot again, opening games in Paris and being French and having all the home support. I wanted to be there. There wasn't going to be more pressure whether I was there tore ten minutes or four minutes. So I was like, you might as well just try to be there and take it all in and enjoy the people. It was great. I managed to hit a good shot, actually."

MATSUYAMA PARS 18 FOR A 63 (-8)

SCHEFFLER TO FOUR-UNDER

The World No.1 birdies the 17th to move inside the top-10 and within four of Hideki Matsuyama's lead.

Scheffler has had plenty of chances today and is bogey-free. A hot putter and he could easily be up there with Hideki.

DISAPPOINTING FINISH FOR JASON DAY

The Australian was four-under heading down the last but found the water long of the green to end up with a double bogey. He falls to six back of the lead.

STUNNING FROM RAHM

Jon Rahm just chipped in again! This at 12 was a beauty from under the level of the green, he flopped it up and it landed perfectly before rolling into the center of the cup.

The Spaniard is back to two-under.

POOR FINISH FROM MCILROY

The World No.3 had a very long birdie putt but there's no excuses for smashing it 15ft by. It ends up in a three-putt bogey, his fourth dropped shot of the day, to post a still very good 68 (-3), which is only three back of the silver medal spot right now.

Scottie Scheffler finishes at four-under, while Ludvig Aberg matches McIlroy's 68.

SCORES FOR THE BIG TRIO:

A HUGE BIRDIE FOR RAHM

After his chip-in on 12, Rahm has just holed a monster putt on the 13th to move up to three-under.

JASON DAY ON THE NERVES OF COMPETING FOR AUSTRALIA

"This is probably the most nervous I've been wearing a set of clothes that you look down and see the colours," he said.

"The first couple holes caught me off-guard actually quite a lot. I was quite nervous standing over the first tee shot and then it took me a few holes to get over it. It's amazing, we're not playing for money this week obviously.

"We are playing for a medal and you're here for kind of playing for free. But my point is, is that like it feels totally different. This is the most I've felt nervous standing on a tee box wearing a set of clothes that I'm wearing for the first time.

"It's a good feeling because it just shows that it means a lot to me, which is good. So I'm happy about it."

RORY MCILROY ON IMPORTANCE OF GOLF IN THE OLYMPICS:

"I don't really know what I expected today but this definitely exceeded those expectations," he said.

"Yeah, I mean, from an overall maybe health of the sport and game and sort whereof it sits, where this competition sits amongst the hierarchy of the tournaments that we have, yeah, it's probably an important week."

SAMI VALIMAKI TO -7

Finland's Valimaki, who plays on the PGA Tour after graduating from the DP World Tour, has birdied the 17th to move within one of the lead. It's his eighth birdie of the day!

ANOTHER EAGLE FOR JON RAHM

A sensational fairway wood into the 14th sets up a simple right-to-lefter for Rahm and he boxes it for his secone eagle of the day.

Last week's LIV Golf UK winner moves to -5 and within three of Matsuyama's lead.

SCHAUFFELE ALSO TO SEVEN-UNDER!

A lovely birdie putt converted on 14 moves the Champion Golfer of the Year and defending gold medallist to within one of the lead.

Thru 14 holes he's had seven birdies and seven pars.

LEADER HIDEKI MATSUYAMA AFTER HIS 63:

"Today's result was good. So I'll take that as a positive," he said.

"My putts went in the cup well today. My shots went into the fairway, too. So I had a lot of chances, so I'm happy.

"I'm glad I was able to finish the day in the top spot."

NIGHTMARE FOR RAHM

The Spaniard has been brilliant today but drops two shots on the par-3 16th after hitting a ball into the water. He's back to three-under after that double.

SCORING UPDATE

We have 43 players under par today and just 12 over par.

Min Woo Lee and Camilo Villegas are in last-place at five-over.

LOVING THE OLYMPIC GEAR THIS WEEK

SCHAUFFELE IN TROUBLE ON 17

I say 'trouble' but there's every chance he'll still make par. He pulled his drive well left and has only been able to chop it up the fairway. He's left it 20 yards short of the green so faces a fairly simple up-and-down for a player of his skill - we'll find out.

UPDATE: SCHAUFFELE MADE BOGEY

He pitched it to around 6ft but just missed the right-to-lefter on the low side. First bogey of the day.

STORMS 8 MILES AWAY

Spectators have been warned to take shelter with bad weather on its way. Play continues for now.

RAHM BOUNCES BACK

A great birdie at 17 - which is the hole where he defeated Tiger Woods at the 2018 Ryder Cup - to move back up to four-under.

FITZPATRICK STRUGGLING

The Team GB star isn't having the best day today. He has just chunked his approach into the 17th after making double at 16, where he hit it into the water.

He's one-over-par and down in T48th.

LIV GOLFERS GOING WELL

There's 7 LIV Golfers in the Olympics golf tournament and most of them are putting very strong performances in today.

Here's how the LIV Golf leaderboard currently looks:

• T2: Carlos Ortiz -6
• T4: Joaquin Niemann -5
• T4: Mito Pereira -5
• T8: Jon Rahm -4
• T24: David Puig -2
• T32: Abraham Ancer -1
• T51: Adrian Meronk +2

PLAY SUSPENDED

Play has been suspended due to weather. Players are coming off the course.

PLAY TO RESUME SHORTLY

"Round 1 of the men's Olympic golf competition will resume at 17:05. Practice facilities have opened for athletes," the International Golf Federation says.

EPIC JASON DAY QUOTE:

JOAQUIN NIEMANN ON 'CRISIS' IN GOLF

After an impressive start in Paris, Joaquin Niemann says an unfair Olympic qualification criteria means "you don't have the best players" playing in the event - which he says is part of a wider "crisis" in the game.

Read more: 'There's A Little Bit Of A Crisis And Things Have To Be Fixed' - Joaquin Niemann On LIV, The Majors And Olympic Qualifying

PLAY BACK UNDERWAY!

After a 40-minute suspension of play, we are back underway at Le Golf National.

CARLOS ORTIZ DROPS BACK

A disappointing double bogey for the LIV Golfer at the par 3 16th, where he found the water off the tee. He's back down to four-under in a tie for 6th.

DOUBLE FOR MITO PEREIRA AS WELL

Ortiz's fellow LIV Golfer and Torque GC teammate Mito Pereira also found water - at the 15th - to fall back with a double bogey.

SHANE LOWRY FINISHES UP

It's a bogey on the last for the Irishman, who posts a level-par 71. That's eight back of gold, seven back of silver and just five back of the bronze medal position.

A long way to go.

SCHAUFFELE PARS THE LAST FOR A 65 - CURRENTLY 2ND

PLAY SUSPENDED AGAIN

RORY MCILROY EARLIER IN THE WEEK:

SCORING UPDATE/MY THOUGHTS

Much has been made of the scoreable conditions today and players have certainly been going low. There's 41 men under par and just 14 over par from the 60-man field.

We currently have 51 players within six strokes of the bronze medal position so it's still very wide open. What a tournament we have in store.

Golf in the Olympics is absolutely brilliant. It's been superb to see all of the world's top players supporting it this year and it's undoubtedly going to continue to grow. LA 2028 at Riviera is going to be very special.

A word on Le Golf National , too. It's great to see the world's best back there for the first time since the 2018 Ryder Cup. It might not test the players like a Pinehurst or a Troon but it's certainly a ball striker's paradise and the finishing stretch can produce big numbers.

The French Open is one of the world's oldest national Opens and it'd be great to see the PGA Tour support the DP World Tour in elevating it back to where it should be.

STILL NO UPDATE ON WHEN PLAY WILL RESUME

Hopefully we can get play finished today, there's not much left to go. The final group have just two holes remaining.

PLAY RESUMING SOON

Good news, looks like we'll get the full first round in today. Play will resume at 6.30pm local time (12.30pm ET/5.30pm BST).