Never highly regarded for his putting, Matsuyama changed that narrative – at least for this week – as he made seven putts longer than 20 feet for the week, including a trio surpassing 30 feet.
[PHOTO: Tracy Wilcox] Let’s get the caveats and asterisks out of the way first. When the trade winds don’t pick up on the island of Maui in early January, the Kapalua Plantation course is as ripe for deep red numbers as any setup on the PGA Tour. To wit, nine of the past 10 editions Read more…
Fleetwood made the point that an Olympic medal wasn’t something he ever had a reason to think of because it wasn’t part of golf. Now, it resides in a fundamentally special place.
Xander Schauffele, the defending Olympic champion, Hideki Matsuyama and Tommy Fleetwood each finished at 11 under par for 36 holes to share the halfway lead in the race for the medal stand.
It was the 17th time this year Schauffele shot 65 or better, the most recent being the final-round 65 that won him his second major at the Open Championship at Royal Troon.
The result of a soft golf course was a first-round scoring average of 69.82 and a field that was a combined 86-under par. Half the holes played under par for the day, and the field averaged four birdies per round.