U.S. GOLFERS SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER AND XANDER SCHAUFFELE PLAY WELL, EMBRACE OLYMPIC GOLF ATMOSPHERE

Scottie Scheffler takes a hit during Day 1 of the men’s individual stroke play at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on Aug. 1, 2024 in Paris. PARIS — The world’s No. 1- and No. 2-ranked golfers, Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele, got off to strong starts on the opening day of the men’s Olympic golf tournament at Le Golf National. Schauffele who arrived to Paris carrying the momentum of two major tournament victories this season – the British Open and PGA Championships – shot a six-under par round of 65, trailing first round leader Hideki Matsuyama by just two strokes. He chipped in on hole number one for birdie, one of five on his front nine, but insisted that the day could have turned out much better.“It wasn’t the dream stripee start that you envision as a golfer, but I was happy to ride the ship in and get away with worse,” Schauffele said, slightly downplaying a solid round.Schauffele and his partners Jon Rahm of Spain and Viktor Hovland of Norway completed the 18th hole after a short delay due to suspended play for threat of lightning. The two-time Masters champion Scheffler shot a four-under par 67, and stands four behind Matsuyama.“I felt like I could have posted a better number, but I did a lot of really good things and I hope I can continue that over the coming days,” Scheffler said.Schauffele and Scheffler were both pleasingly surprised with the course, venue lay-out and especially the overall atmosphere straight out of the gate.“I looked at the course and I thought of the Ryder Cup (held at Le Golf National in 2018) and I was like ‘wow, what a venue’ with the way the course is designed with the moguls and mounds and how everyone could see,” Schauffele said. “There’s a lot of water everywhere and it’s kind of a scene to be honest.”“I had Matthieu (Pavon) behind me, they were chanting his name saying ‘Let’s go Bleu’ – they were making it an awesome experience. I heard there was like 18-20,000 people here today,” he said, referring to France’s top golfer, while also noting that he heard some USA chants from the sizeable crowd.Scheffler offered a similar take: “It was nice playing in front of a big crowd – they were cheering loud for us and it was a pretty fun – I was definitely not expecting that.”The par-71 Albatross course, which plays 7,174 yards this week, was home to the 2018 Ryder Cup, an event that the American squad didn’t fare well at. If Thursday was any indication, it appears the results of this week’s four-round individual stroke play Olympic tournament will be a whole different story.Xander Schauffele acknowledges the crowd on the 18th green at Day 1 of the men’s individual stroke play at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on Aug. 1, 2024 in Paris.