Paris Olympics: Jon Rahm, Xander Schauffele share lead through third round of golf tourney

Aug. 3 (UPI) -- Spaniard Jon Rahm carded a 5-under 66 to jump into a share of the lead with American Xander Schauffele in the third round of the Summer Olympics golf tournament Saturday in Guyancourt, France.

Schauffele, who entered the day in a three-way tie for first place with Hideki Matsuyama of Japan and Tommy Fleetwood of Great Britain, fired a 3-under par 68 on Saturday at Le Golf National. He is now tied with Rahm at 14-under overall.

"It was a sticky start ," Schauffele, the defending gold medalist, told NBC. "Slow and kind of weird breaks. It was a bit of a mental battle there. Happy to bounce back pretty strong on the back nine.

"When you mess up easy holes, you just have to try and birdie the hard ones."

ICE COLD XANDER.

Walk-in EAGLE putt to tie Jon Rahm for the lead!

Golf Channel and Peacock | #ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/JG0AD7eT3C — Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) August 3, 2024

Matsuyama shot an even-par 71 in the third round and dropped into a tie for fourth with Nicolai Hojgaard of Denmark at 11-under through 54 holes.

Fleetwood turned in a 2-under 69 on Saturday and sits in third place at 13-under.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler of Team USA was 4-under in the third round and is tied with Ireland's Rory McIlroy , Korea's Tom Kim and Belgium's Thomas Detry at 10-under.

Rahm totaled seven birdies and two bogeys in the third round. Schauffele carded two birdies, an eagle and a bogey on Saturday at Le Golf National.

Jon Rahm regains a share of the lead with a LONG birdie make on 17.

Golf Channel and Peacock | #ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/OQMgOzkc0t — Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) August 3, 2024

Fleetwood totaled three birdies and a bogey, while Matsuyama recorded three birdies and three bogeys.

Wyndham Clark recorded his best round so far, with a 6-under 65, and is tied for 23rd with fellow American Collin Morikawa, among others, at 5-under through 54 holes.

The final round of the men's Olympic golf tournament will tee off at 3 a.m. EDT Sunday at La Golf National. Coverage will air on NBC's Golf Channel. An encore presentation will air at 2 p.m. on USA Network.