Fleetwood and McIlroy stay in medal hunt

Paris 2024 Olympics leaderboard, round three

-14 Rahm (Spa), Schauffele (US); -13 Fleetwood (GB); -11 Hojgaard (Den), Matsuyama (Jpn); -10 McIlroy (Ire), Scheffler (US); Kim (Kor), Detry (Bel)

Full leaderboard

Britain’s Tommy Fleetwood remains in strong contention for an Olympic medal as a host of superstars stack the leaderboard going into the final round of the men’s golf event.

Fleetwood started Saturday’s third round in a share of the lead, and carded a two-under 69 to end the day in the bronze medal position.

It was a solid if not spectacular round from the 33-year-old Englishman as the other challengers knocked in plenty of birdies.

Fleetwood is one shot behind Spain’s Jon Rahm, who hit a five-under 66, and defending champion Xander Schauffele of the United States.

Rory McIlroy, playing for Ireland, is four shots behind the leaders after a 66.

Fleetwood said: “My swing isn’t flowing. It’s not where I would like it to be, but I’ve managed it so well all week.

“When you can’t quite push like you’d like to, it can be frustrating.

“But patience is an asset that everybody needs at times, and I showed that, I was happy with how I did that.”

Fleetwood famously inspired Europe to Ryder Cup victory in 2018 at Le Golf National – where the Paris 2024 event is being held – and received huge support as he moved to 13 under overall.

Recent Open champion Schauffele, who shot 68, almost snatched the outright overnight lead with a birdie putt that fell inches short on the 18th.

The pair will go out last together again for the final round on Sunday, joined by former world number one Rahm.

American Scottie Scheffler, the current best men’s player on the planet, is alongside McIlroy on 10 under.

McIlroy, 35, has put himself into the mix for a maiden Olympic medal after cutting out the mistakes he made before the weekend.

“It was a really solid round of golf,” said McIlroy, who missed out on the podium by finishing tied fourth in his first Games at Tokyo 2020.

“It would have been nice to be able to squeeze a couple more shots out of the back nine.

“But I think tomorrow, depending on what the leaders do, I’m going to have to probably shoot my lowest round of the week to have a chance at a medal. That’s the goal.”

Ireland team-mate Shane Lowry is five under after also carding a 66.

But Britain’s Matt Fitzpatrick had a back nine to forget and later pulled out with a thumb strain.

The Englishman, making his Olympic debut, came in seven over par after the turn – including a quadruple-bogey eight on the treacherous 15th.

He twice found the water circling the green, going on to sign for a 10-over 81, which left him five over in total.