Xander Schauffele explains why he had to speak to rules official after issue with ants on Olympics day two

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Xander Schauffele is well in contention at The Olympics to defend his gold medal going into day three of the golf in Paris.

Schauffele maintained his excellent run of form of late and after being impressed with Le Golf National after day one, the American produced again on day two.

Schauffele’s round of five-under ensured he goes into day three with a share of the lead alongside Hideki Matsuyama and Great Britain’s Tommy Fleetwood.

After winning two majors this year, capturing Olympic gold again would be the cherry on top of a tremendous year for Schauffele.

Of course, things might have been a touch easier for Schauffele had he not had a bit of an issue with the local wildlife.

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In a bizarre scenario, Schauffele ended up with his ball next to what ended up being a effectively an ants nest.

In the end, the American sought help from the officials over whether he could move the ants or not.

And as expected, it caused a stir in the press room as the media simply couldn’t resist asking the question.

Xander Schauffele reveals bizarre experience with ants nest on two of the Olympics

Speaking to the press afterwards, Schauffele was simply asked what the deal was with the ants.

And his reply was typical of the Open winner.

“Yeah, so I was sitting in this — I just missed the rough, I guess, into the I guess maybe unknown as they would call it, the long stuff as I call it. I was kind of putting my club down and sort of that fluffy sort of — fluffy grass almost, and I’m taking practise swings and I’m trying to get to my ball and I can’t even — what’s going on, something is behind my ball.

“I went down and saw a pile, so I called an official. It was just ants. It was a pile of ants, an ant pile, or whatever you want to call it, and their home; so I didn’t want to mess with it. Couldn’t take relief. It’s a loose impediment,” Schauffele said.

Questioned further on whether he felt he should have been given relief and if he felt threatened at all, Schauffele appeared to simply shrug it off as one of those things.

“Dangerous to some. I didn’t feel too threatened by the ants. I don’t think they have fire ants. I’m not too sure to be completely honest.

“I called for a second official because I asked the lady if I can use my club to scrape the sand since it’s loose, and she’s like yes. My gut was like, oh, boy, am I really going to use my club, have it on film, and then talk to you guys after?

“I got a second opinion and the guys said I could not move the grass but use my tee to move the ants.
I didn’t do anything to be honest. I ended up hacking out 50 yards on the fairway. That’s all I’ve got for you.”

The American will be hoping for a touch less drama on day three.

After all, with the margin for error so slim in such a brilliant golf field, any minor distraction might well end up costing him a gold medal.