Paris, France: Hideki Matsuyama raced out of the starting blocks as the men's golf competition at the Paris Olympic Games got underway on Thursday.
The world number 12, who lost in a seven-man play-off for the bronze medal in the 2020 Tokyo Games, signalled his ambitions to make amends with a blistering bogey-free eight-under-par 63 to top the leaderboard at the Le Golf National.
Going into Friday’s second round, the two-time former Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (AAC) winner holds a two-shot lead from in-form American Xander Schauffele, triumphant in the Open Championship at Royal Troon a fortnight ago and gold medallist at the Tokyo Olympics.
Matsuyama, the 2021 Masters champion, fired five birdies in his front nine and continued his birdie blitz by adding another three more coming home. He also holed a 15-footer for par at the 17th.
He said: “Fortunately, I was able to keep the ball in the fairway and left myself with a number of chances to score. So in that regard I'm satisfied with the end result. But also still a number of things I could improve on. Definitely off to a great start and hopefully I can keep the momentum going for the rest of the week.”
Japan’s other representative in the 60-man field in Paris is Keita Nakajima, the 2021 AAC winner. He carded a 70 to end round one in a share of 29th place.
Matsuyama and Nakajima are among 10 AAC alumni flying the flag for their countries in Paris.
Joining them are Chinese Taipei’s CT Pan and Kevin Yu Chun-an. Pan, bronze medallist in Tokyo, began his campaign with a steady 69, four better than his compatriot.
The China pair of Marty Dou Zecheng and Carl Yuan Yechun returned scores of 69 and 70 respectively, while Malaysian Gavin Green opened with a 74 and Australian Min Woo Lee could only manage a 76.
For New Zealand, Daniel Hillier posted a 75 with Ryan Fox, a participant in the first three editions of the AAC (2009-2011), in a share of sixth spot after a promising 67.
