Many Swedes had made their way to Le Golf National to follow Ludvig Åberg's hunt for the top spot during the third round, golf's so-called "moving day".
Åberg did not disappoint the blue and yellow fans. Seven strokes separated him from the leading trio when the round began, but Åberg's fine 66-round brought him closer to the three medal positions.
The goal for the day was to get a little closer to the top than we were this morning. I think we did it in a positive way. Then, of course, it will require very good golf tomorrow as well if we are to have a chance at medals, says the 24-year-old star from Eslöv.
Three straight birdies
Åberg got off to a good start with birdies on three and five. When the third birdie came on nine, the crowd chanted "Ludde, Ludde, Ludde" in response.
A bogey on ten meant a break in the climb, but then Åberg picked up the pace with birdies on holes 13, 14, 15, and 17. The putter was hot, and Åberg seemed to enjoy every second out on the OS course.
I hit the ball well and gave myself many chances. It was fun to see the putts drop instead of just missing, like they did yesterday. And fun to hear a lot of cheers in Swedish, it means a lot that they took the time to come and cheer.
Today's only second fairway miss came on the final hole. The ball lay thick in the rough, Åberg had to hack his way out and eventually made the round's second bogey.
Four strokes to bronze
Åberg is tenth on –9 total and there are several heavy star names that he is chasing during the final 18 holes. He has four strokes up to Tommy Fleetwood on the bronze spot and one more to the leading duo Jon Rahm and Xander Schauffele. Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler (both one ahead of Åberg) also want to be in the mix for medals.
Nicolai Højgaard is also ahead of Åberg in the results list after scoring the lowest score in OS golf so far, 62 strokes. The Dane climbed from 32nd to fourth place and showed how quickly it can turn on the lovely course outside Paris.
It's a good golf course, you can go low and make many birdies. But it also requires that you hit the shots and it gets pretty big consequences if you don't do it.
If you finish with 62 strokes, can it be enough for gold?
Yes, that wouldn't be bad, Åberg laughs.
Carl Göransson/TT
Facts: The standings before the final round
TT
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Jon Rahm, Spain, and Xander Schauffele, USA, –14.
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Tommy Fleetwood, Great Britain, –13.
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Nicolai Højgaard, Denmark, and Hideki Matsuyama, Japan, –11.
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Rory McIlroy, Ireland, Scottie Scheffler, USA, Tom Kim, South Korea, and Thomas Detry, Belgium, –10.
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Ludvig Åberg, Sweden, Jason Day, Australia, and Joaquín Niemann, Chile, –9.
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Alex Norén, Sweden, –1.
