Mackenzie Hughes of Canada competes at the Tokyo Olympics on July 31, 2021.MURAD SEZER/Reuters
Canada’s Mackenzie Hughes and Corey Conners are tied for 17th at 7-under par after three rounds at the Olympic men’s golf tournament.
American Xander Schauffele is atop the leaderboard at 14-under overall following a 3-under round on Saturday at Kasumigaseki Country Club.
Hughes, from Dundas, Ont., fired a 6-under 65 to move 23 spots up the leaderboard, seven shots behind Schauffele. He was still hopeful he could reach the podium in Sunday’s fourth round.
“I know I’m still well on the outside looking in, but I do have a chance and you always have a chance until the last shot,” said Hughes after his round. “I’m going to give it all I have tomorrow and we’ll see what happens.”
Conners, from Listowel, Ont., had to finish up his second round in the morning after play was suspended Friday due to inclement weather.
“Always throws you out of your rhythm a little bit, but I felt like I did a decent job coming back from the delays and was able to kind of get back in the game,” said Conners, who played 20 holes on Saturday.
“It was definitely a long day (...) but I’m fairly used to it, honestly, playing in the summer on the PGA Tour, we often get a lot of delays,” said Conners. “So nothing too unusual, but it’s always nice when you can keep going.”
He shot a 5-under 66 in the third round on Saturday afternoon to finish the day tied with his Canadian teammate and 10 others.
Both Hughes and Conners said that their slow starts in the first two rounds meant they could be less cautious in the third and fourth rounds of the 60-man, no-cut event.
“Just going to try and be more aggressive, not do anything silly, but just try and get the ball in the fairway a little more,” said Conners. “Attack some of the pins and hopefully can get the putter hot and get on a roll and make some birdies.”
The two Canadians will tee off in consecutive groups on Sunday morning.
Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., and Hamilton’s Alena Sharp will represent Canada in the women’s tournament, which tees off on Wednesday.
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