Olympic golf finally feels like big-time golf with full house at Le Golf National

SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France (AP) — Rory McIlroy is playing in the Olympics for the second time. Thursday at Le Golf National felt like his first real Olympic experience.

Thousands of fans crammed behind the first tee began chanting his name when they saw him headed their way. He walked by Olympic swimming great Michael Phelps, then turned and saw the fairway lined with spectators, wrapping around toward the second hole.

“Unbelievable. It was surprising,” McIlroy said after opening with a 3-under 68. “With so many events going on spread all across the city, for people to venture out here and to watch us play, it was a really cool atmosphere to play in.

“I thought the weekend it might get a few more people. I thought the first couple days might be a little bit quieter. But it was awesome.”

And it was a far cry from his Olympic debut at the Tokyo Games, where no spectators were allowed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Tokyo was a ghost town,” he said. “The atmosphere was certainly a little more energetic than I was expecting, which is cool.”

Le Golf National is about 45 minutes outside Paris. International Golf Federation officials have said the allotment of 30,000 tickets has been sold for the week. They predicted 20,000 fans, met with some skepticism because golf only returned to the Olympics in 2016 and its place on the program is still debated with four major championship a year considered more important.

The crowd was approaching 20,000 fans by noon, typical of some of the marquee tournaments on the PGA Tour. Flags were waving, cheers were shouted in a dozen languages. Players wore team uniforms, even though this is an individual event.

“The first couple holes caught me off guard actually quite a lot,” said Jason Day of Australia, a former world No. 1 and major champion. “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.

Paris Olympics

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“We’re not playing for money this week. We are playing for a medal and you’re here playing for free,” he said. “My point 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.”

Imagine the feeling of Victor Perez of France, who was chosen to hit the opening tee shot.

“Vic-TOR! Vic-TOR!” is what he heard chanted when he came across the bridge toward the tee. Dozens of French flags were waving behind him along with cheers of, “Allez, Victor!”

He pumped his right fist over his head a few times before drilling his drive.

Perez first played Le Golf National as a 12-year-old in a junior tournament. Twenty years later, he is part of the Olympics before the largest crowd at this site since the Ryder Cup in 2018.

“I’ll never hit this tee shot again, opening games in Paris and being French and having all the home support,” Perez said.

Matthieu Pavon, the other French player in the field, felt it even more. He won his first PGA Tour title in January at Torrey Pines in San Diego, always one of the larger galleries during the West Coast Swing. That was nothing compared with Thursday.

Players walk across a bridge before descending to the first tee, and Pavon was greeted by fans singing the French national anthem.

“That a crazy moment which I wasn’t prepared (for). At that moment, too big, too emotions, too many people screaming just your name,” he said. “It was a tough day overall because the emotions out there — every single shot, every single tee shot, every putt, everybody is pushing you, wants you to do great. So it’s tough to manage all of this. It takes a lot of energy, and I’m pretty pleased the way that I did so far today.”

He was asked if he felt overwhelmed standing on the first tee.

“Completely,” Pavon said. “I think it’s normal, no?”

Tommy Fleetwood, who won the French Open on this course and starred in the Ryder Cup in 2018, felt plenty of support being from Europe. Ditto or Shane Lowry of Ireland.

“I was expecting a little bit but the cheer on the first tee was pretty cool, and it felt like it was at home,” Lowry said. “I got goosebumps and I hit a really bad tee shot. But I’m not blaming them. It was my fault.”

“Being out there today shows you how big this tournament actually is.”