If anyone in this Olympic men’s golf field knows what it’s like to play in a major championship, it’s Jason Day, a major winner himself and one with 52 major starts under his belt.

“Definitely feels like a major for sure, especially the crowd, standing on the first tee,” Day said. “… I think with history as it grows, I think this might turn into something of a major.”

The leaderboard after 54 holes backs up Day’s assertion, too. Tied at the top at 14 under: a pair of two-time major winners in Spain's Jon Rahm and the U.S.'s Xander Schauffele, whose two major triumphs have come in the past few months. Add in world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (USA), Rory McIlroy (IRE), Hideki Matsuyama (JPN) and perhaps the best player now without a major, Tommy Fleetwood (GBR), all within four shots, and Sunday’s race to the Olympic podium figures to be quite the theatre. 

“I think it's a little more fun than a major,” McIlroy added. “Sort of like a celebration in a way.”

Here’s what you need to know from Round 3 in Paris:

FULL RESULTS

T-1. Xander Schauffele (USA): -14 (68)  
T-1. Jon Rahm (ESP): -14 (66)
3. Tommy Fleetwood (GBR): -13 (69)
T-4. Nicolai Hojgaard (DEN): -11 (62)
T-4. Hideki Matsuyama (JPN): -11 (71) 
T-6. Rory McIlroy (IRE): -10 (66) 
T-6. Tom Kim (KOR): -10 (69)
T-6. Scottie Scheffler (USA): -10 (67) 
T-6. Thomas Detry (BEL): -10 (69)
T-10. Ludvig Åberg (SWE): -9 (66) 
T-10: Jason Day (AUS): -9 (67) 
T-10: Joaquin Niemann (CHI): -9 (68)

It was a rare close-range lapse with the flatstick for Schauffele, who missed a par save from 2 feet, 3 inches at Le Golf National’s par-3 second hole. But the reigning Olympic gold medalist quickly righted his course, scrambling like crazy and getting a few putts to fall as he remained tied for the lead, now with Rahm.

“It was a sticky start,” said Schauffele, who also parred the par-5 third as part of a front-nine 36. “Slow and kind of weird breaks. It was a bit of a mental battle there. Happy to bounce back pretty strong on the back nine. When you mess up easy holes, you just have to try and birdie the hard ones.”

Schauffele didn’t drop another shot after the second hole, though he did miss seven greens. He got a 15-footer for birdie to drop at the par-4 fourth to get some momentum, and on the back side, he birdied No. 12 from 10 feet and eagled No. 14 from 26 feet.

“I'm telling myself, like I'm slow out of the gates here,” Schauffele said. “Fumbled my first hurdle and had to try and steady the ship coming in.

“Like the little Olympics reference there?”

Spoken like a gold medalist who could win another come Sunday.

Rahm continued to ride his recent momentum from an Open top-10 and LIV win by circling seven birdies on his card and firing 66 Saturday at Le Golf National.

“It's nice to see things going so well for the last month, and after having won to be in this position again so quickly,” said Rahm, who is tied with Schauffele for the 54-hole lead at 14 under.

Statistically, Rahm has hit more fairways (34) and greens (47) than anyone in the field through three rounds. He’s second in strokes gained: off the tee, a byproduct of the stiffer driver shaft he’s used in recent events. He’s also eighth in approach and fourth around the greens.

Asked how he feels compared to when he won the 2021 U.S. Open or 2023 Masters, Rahm responded, “I feel just as comfortable as some of those that you mentioned and other wins that I've had in the past.”

Make that two Hojgaard brothers who now share the course record at Le Golf National.

Following Rasmus Hojgaard’s 9-under 62 in the opening round of the 2022 French Open, Nicolai Hojgaard matched his twin’s low mark with a 62 of his own in Saturday’s third round of the Olympics. The Danish Olympian, who is joined by countryman Thorbjorn Olesen in Paris, carded five birdies as part of an opening-nine 31 before eagling the par-5 14th, where he stuck a 223-yard second shot to 4 feet, and birdieing Nos. 16 and 17. 

“The only thing I was focusing on standing on 18th tee was I want to make a good swing,” Hojgaard said. “I've struggled a little bit on the finishing holes the last two days (a combined 3 over at Nos. 17 and 18). So, for me today, it was a huge win for me to see myself hit fairways and hit two good iron shots into the last two, and then when I walked to the 18th green, Foxy (Ryan Fox) said to me it might be for the course record. I had it in mind when I hit the putt and thought I hit the putt correctly. Just stifled me in the end but obviously pleased with the finish.”

Hojgaard believed the key moment of his record-tying round was an up-and-down birdie at the par-4 ninth, where Hojgaard pitched 49 yards to 14 feet from the native area right of the green and rolled in the putt.

“Probably the game-changer a little bit,” Hojgaard said. “It's a tough one. You can easily make ‘6’ out of that position.”

Hojgaard’s first bogey-free round of the week bumped him up to 11 under.

Scheffler missed just three greens in regulation on Saturday at Le Golf National.

That included the last two.

Scheffler yanked his drive left at the par-4 17th en route to bogey, and his tee shot on the par-4 finishing hole was pushed right, only allowing Scheffler to advance his next ball about 100 yards into the fairway rather than take on a risky left flag.

The safe play, though, paid off as Scheffler avoided a second straight bogey by sticking his third shot from 89 yards to 12 inches for an easy closing par.

“I feel like ‘4’ on No. 18 here is a good score,” said Scheffler, whose third-round 67 has him at 10 under, four shots off the lead.

Like Rahm, Rory McIlroy missed just one green, but it was McIlroy’s putter (+0.719 strokes gained) that was the biggest improvement over the first two days. McIlroy’s third-round 66 has him just four shots back. … Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama, one of three co-leaders through 36 holes, only managed an even-par 71 on Saturday. He missed six fairways and six greens. … Byeong Hun An got off to a blazing start Saturday morning, playing his first 11 holes in 8 under, a stretch that included a 6-under 30 on the front nine, and reaching 10 under for the tournament. However, the South Korean couldn’t sustain his hot play. He double-bogeyed the par-4 13th, where he chipped his third shot into the water and then had to get up and down from 61 yards back across the water just to avoid triple. After another dropped shot, at No. 17, An shot 66 and will enter Sunday at 7 under. … There were just 17 over-par rounds carded Saturday. None were worse than Matt Fitzpatrick’s. The Great Britain player shot 10-over 81 to plummet 36 spots to T-53 on the leaderboard. It got worse for Fitzpatrick afterward, too, as he withdrew with a preexisting right thumb strain. … American Wyndham Clark climbed the leaderboard with a 65, and he is now tied with Collin Morikawa for 23rd at 5 under.