Fleetwood joins Matsuyama and Schauffele atop Men's Olympic Golf Competition..

 Men's Olympic Golf Competition...Tee Times  Leaderboard

Tommy Fleetwood admits the pressure of vying for a medal at the Olympic Games is ensuring he is containing his excitement after playing his way into a share of the halfway lead.

The Englishman sits alongside defending gold medallist Xander Schauffele (65)) and 2021 Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama (68) after carding a -7 64 to reach -11 at Le Golf National.

While Fleetwood is no stranger to the pressures of golf’s biggest global events, the 33-year-old has struggled to fight for silverware since he won his seventh DP World Tour title at the Dubai Invitational in January.

"I actually haven't been in contention for a while," he said. "I kind of enjoy that on its own, as well as it being the Olympics.

"Like I say, it brings with it its own mental challenges. You're playing for a medal. You look at the atmosphere this week, we constantly get asked the question, where does the Olympics sit in golf.

"When you look at how it's going this week, it continues and continues to grow, and what people feel about it.

"It brings its own nerves and excitement and it's very, very special. So, yeah, it's its own unique feeling and it's amazing.

Asked how he would reflect if he ended his career without a Major win but a gold medal, the Team GB athlete replied: “Still got a gold medal, right.

“I try and look at things through the eyes of Frankie, for instance, my son, at six years old. “If I had a gold medal, he would always take it when I was gone or whatever, and I think what an unbelievably special thing to have.

“I think being able to be a part of or one of all these unbelievable athletes that put their heart and soul into their chosen craft and a gold medal is the absolute pinnacle of what they do.

“I have an unbelievable respect for that, and I understand how special it is and how much it means."

europeantour.com (Mathieu Wood)

edit ^^^ Canadians Corey Conners T13 68 69 -5 Nick Taylor T46 70 73 +1

Others

Irish  Rory McIlroy T13 68 69 -5,  Shane Lowry T43 71 71 E

French Victor Perez T13 70 67 -5, Matthieu Pavon 57th 71 75 +4

T5's  Tom Kim 66 68 -8, CT Pan 69 65 -8 Tomas Detry 71 63 -8

Scheffler T10 67 69 -6

Ludvig T19 68 70 -4

Min Woo Lee T35  76 65 -1

Little Norwegian:  Viktor Hovland T54 70 75 +4

Bryan Angus (edit)