Matsuyama battles on, trails Rahm and Schauffele by three

Hideki Matsuyama slipped to a share of fourth place after battling hard to an even-par 71 to maintain his hopes for a medal prospect as reigning champion Xander Schauffele and Span’s John Rahm head into the final 18 holes of the Olympics golf competition tied for the lead on Saturday.
 
Matsuyama, who was in solo second ahead of the final round at the Tokyo Olympics four years ago, will start his final round three shots back of the leaders after a testing round where he mixed his card with three birdies and three bogeys to compile a 11-under-par 202 total.
 
The Wolrd No. 12 is tied with Nicolai Hojgaard after the Dane powered through the field with a spectacular 62 to equal the course record, which he now jointly holds the record with three other players, including his twin brother Rasmus.
 
In-form Schauffele, who has already won the PGA Championship and Open Championship this year, reached the turn in 36 as Rahm surged into the lead, but eagled the par-five 14th hole at the same time as Rahm was making a three-putt bogey on the next green.
 
He would par the next four holes to sign for a 68 as Rahm recovered from his dropped shot on 15 with another birdie on 17 to close the round with a 66.
 
When asked of his second Olympic golf medal prospect, Schauffele said: “I haven't gotten too far, thinking that far."
 
“It was a sticky start. Slow and kind of weird breaks. It was a bit of a mental battle there. Happy to bounce back pretty strong on the back nine. I was hoping to try and birdie – when you mess up easy holes, you just have to try and birdie the hard ones. Happy with the back nine,” he added.
 
Keita Nakajima signed for a 73 to end the third round of competition in tied-44^th place alongside Puerto Rico’s Rafa Campos.