Xander Schauffele and Jon Rahm shake hands on the 18th green. GETTY IMAGES

Friday has been a great day of competition at Le Golf National. Many players have taken advantage of the conditions of the course to improve and get closer to the medal positions. There are still two rounds to go and the options are wide open.

Hideki Matsuyama was dominant on Thursday. The Japanese has responded well on the second day, but has seen how many players have grown to the possibilities of making birdies and has not been able to retain the lead alone. After 63 strokes yesterday, he shot 68 today to finish on 11 under par. He could have finished better, but sent the ball into the water on the 18th hole and that turned into a double bogey that tarnished his great game.

American Xander Schauffele, Olympic champion at Tokyo 2020 and British Tommy Fleetwood finished tied with him. The reigning Olympic champion, who shot 65 on the first day, shot 66 on the second. Fleetwood already started the tournament well, with -4, but today he raised the level. He made an eagle on the third hole, and then alternated birdies with pars. He was on course to match Matsuyama's 63 yesterday, but he bogeyed the 18th hole, the only bogey in two full rounds.



Right now, those would be the three medallists in Paris 2024. But the list of candidates behind them is wide. Spain's Jon Rahm is in fourth place. He started with a frightening start with three birdies in a row at the beginning of the round, but he slowed down with a bogey on the eighth hole. 66 strokes and a total of -9.

Special mention must go to the Belgian Thomas Detry and the German Stephan Jaeger. The draw paired them to play together and with the Norwegian Nicolai Hojgaard in the first two days. On the first day, they only managed to make par on the course, which left them a little behind in the standings. But Friday was their big day. The Belgian carded the best round of the day, matching Matsuyama's 63 yesterday. 

He is now at -8, three strokes behind the leaders. The German has made 64 strokes and is on -7. The Norwegian has not been able to keep up with them. He has shot 70 strokes each day, a total of -2, nine strokes off the medals. Perhaps too far already.



Detry is tied for fifth with Chinese Taipei's C.T. Pan, bronze al Tokyo 2020, who had a great round of 65 today, and South Korea's Tom Kim. Jaeger is eighth tied with Italian Guido Migliozzi, who has also improved his performance from the first day. They will no longer play together on Saturday. The order of play depends on the standings on Saturday and Sunday, with the final qualifiers teeing off at 9:00 local time and the star-studded match, the three leaders, starting at 12:39.

On -6 are South Africa's Erik Van Rooyen, Chile's Joaquin Niemann, who finished third on day one, and world number one Scottie Scheffler of the USA, who has responded to a double bogey on the seventh hole with four subsequent birdies. He looks likely to have a very good round on Saturday to be in contention on Sunday.

On -5 are several big names, such as Ireland's Rory McIlroy, Canada's Corey Conners and Australia's Jason Day, but also Britain's Matt Fitzpatrick, who had a bad day on Thursday and needed a very good card to get into the fight for the medals. He shot 64, with seven birdies and no bogey.

Jason Day tees off on the first hole. GETTY IMAGES
Jason Day tees off on the first hole. GETTY IMAGES

There are 18 players with a score of -5 or better. It is too early to rule out all the others, but they will need a spectacular weekend to be in contention for glory. Much can still be expected from American Collin Morikawa or Sweden's Ludvig Aberg, who are on -4.