Tommy Fleetwood has suggested that one player in the field at the Olympics managed to really surprise him during the third round, with the race for the gold medal perfectly poised.
Tommy Fleetwood is currently one of the men the rest of the field are looking to hunt down heading into the final round at Le Golf National, with the Englishman third – one shot behind Jon Rahm and Xander Schauffele after his two under par round of 69.
Four shots separate the top nine players with 18 holes to play, but perhaps those further down the leaderboard have been given reason to believe that they are not out of medal contention just yet.
There were 19 shots between the best and worst rounds of the day, with Fleetwood’s countryman Matt Fitzpatrick, unfortunately, proving to be the player who endured a nightmare day, posting a 10 over par 81.
Tommy Fleetwood reacts as Nicolai Hojgaard ties course record at Le Golf National
At the other end however, Nicolai Hojgaard managed to tie the course record with a 62 to bring himself right back into the mix, with the Dane just three shots back of the leader.
And speaking in his press conference after his round on Saturday, Tommy Fleetwood admitted that he was stunned by what Hojgaard managed to produce.
“No, I mean, what a round of golf that is. Was that Nicolai? Unbelievable round of golf,” he said.
“I think today was the toughest day for sure. I felt like the pins were tucked a way a bit. Wind was a bit stronger. I thought today was the toughest day so far.
“It’s not a freak round. It’s a freakishly good round. You can only play with what you’ve got,” he went on to add.
“Like I said today, I don’t think I was capable of shooting that score with what I had. You just have to play with what you’ve got, and if I had gone out today and started firing and thought 62 is what I needed to do, I’d be nowhere near and I’d probably be worse off.
“But I’m only one shot off the lead. There’s that, as well, and I’ve got to focus on those things and just doing my best, really, tomorrow.”
Stunning round sends strong message to leaders
Hojgaard’s round will perhaps act as a warning to those towards the top of the leaderboard, as they will know that so many players remain in contention for the medals.
Schauffele believes that a round of 62 on Sunday will be needed to absolutely secure a gold medal. Meanwhile, 28 players are as close or closer to the leaders than Hojgaard was before his third round – one of those leaders, Hideki Matsuyama is now alongside the Ryder Cup star.
There is certainly plenty of life left in this tournament.
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