Golf-ScHotele roars halfway before the game is abandoned

KAWAGOE, Japan, July 30 (Reuters) – Xander Sc chaudele shot a sparkling eight under 63 in Olympic golf on Friday as he put the United States into gold medal position before the second round was scrapped for the day due to a late threat of lightning.

ScHotele shares the Games experience with his swing trainer father Stefan, whose dreams of representing Germany in Olympic athletics were dashed almost 40 years ago when he lost an eye in an accident car.

The 27-year-old Californian made his father proud as he walked home with three consecutive birdies, putting up a 13-foot putt on the 18th at Kasumigaseki Country Club to beat Mexican Carlos Ortiz (67) for first place at 11- under a total of 131.

Four-time winner of the US PGA Tour, ScHotele said he saw the Olympic tournament as “just another four-day event” and would relax with his father for another night watching other athletes compete. .

“I’m just going to try to be as patient as possible until the finish line,” he told reporters.

“I think the problem is thinking too far ahead. You do a really good job of making us players think too far ahead. So I practiced to make sure I didn’t not get into this train of thought. “

Play was suspended moments after ScHotele’s final putt, leaving his group and five more to complete their rounds.

It was the third such disruption for the tournament and the second for the day, with play suspended for more than two hours just before noon.

Local favorite Hideki Matsuyama was among those whose second rounds remained on hold, but the Masters champion is well placed for the weekend.

Japan’s first big winner, who fell ill with COVID-19 earlier this month, was among four tied for third at eight cents for the tournament when his inning was cut short on the 17th.

Former world number one Rory McIlroy is also in the mix after finishing a round of 66 to stand one step further in a seven-under group with Irish teammate Shane Lowry.

“The goal today was to kind of reconnect,” McIlroy told reporters. “I just wanted to come into the competition before the weekend and feel like I was part of the tournament.”

British Open champion Collin Morikawa (70) and his American teammates Patrick Reed (71) and Justin Thomas (71) have work to do to threaten medals.

World number three Morikawa and Reed were in a group tied at three under, eight strokes adrift from Scuffele, with Thomas two more behind on one under.

“Overall I think we’re still going the distance hopefully and we’ll definitely need a good tomorrow,” said Morikawa.

Written by Ian Ransom; Editing by Ken Ferris and Pritha Sarkar

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