Conners cracks top 15 as Matsuyama takes early lead at Olympic golf tournament

Victor Perez of France repeatedly pumped his fist over his head before the opening tee shot Thursday, celebrating the start of Olympic golf before a large and raucous home crowd.

And then Hideki Matsuyama quietly went about his business for an 8-under 63 and a two-shot lead at Le Golf National. Right behind was a familiar figure — Xander Schauffele, 10 days removed from his British Open title and playing as though he hasn't missed a beat.

The surprise was outside the ropes — nearly 20,000 spectators in stifling heat, traipsing across rough terrain and seeing unusually low scoring from overnight rain that softened the course.

Matsuyama, who lost in a seven-man playoff for the bronze in the Tokyo Games, had six birdies through 10 holes and kept a clean card with a 15-foot par save on the 17th.

"Fortunately, I was able to keep the ball in the fairway and left myself with a number of chances to score," Matsuyama said. "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."

Canadians put themselves in the mix as welll, with Corey Conners, of Listowel, Ont., opening with a 68, two strokes better than fellow Canadian Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C..

Ranked 38th in the world, Conners is Canada's top ranked golfer, with Taylor ranked 44th. Conners comes into the Olympics with three top-10 finishes in his last six PGA Tour events, not having a result outside the top 30 since April. 

"I can feel quite positive about a lot of things, and feel like I have a good game plan to tackle the golf course here and get more balls in the fairway, I just missed a few off the tee, and got