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Cruel luck stalls Smith's Olympic charge

Darren WaltonAAP
Australia's Cameron Smith has produced a birdie blitz to loom large in the Olympic golf tournament.
Camera IconAustralia's Cameron Smith has produced a birdie blitz to loom large in the Olympic golf tournament. Credit: AP

Red-hot American Xander Schauffele snatched the halfway lead with a record-equalling round as a cruel late blow left Cameron Smith cursing his luck at the Olympic men's golf tournament.

Schauffele's spectacular eight-under-par 63, featuring two eagles and three straight birdies coming home, matched Austrian Sepp Straka's opening round at the Kasumigaseki Country Club.

The fireworks vaulted Schauffele to an 11-under 131 halfway total and a one-stroke lead over Mexican Carlos Ortiz (67) as adverse weather conditions forced a halt to proceedings on Friday night.

Smith had rocketed into medal contention with a major move before eventually signing for a birdie-filled four-under-par 67.

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While reviving his hopes of jagging a place on the podium on Sunday, Smith lamented not being much higher up the leaderboard than in a tie for 20th - and seven shots off the pace - if not for some rotten luck at the last.

He pulled his approach shot out of the rough into the - ironically mostly empty - stands and watched his ball, incredibly, ricochet sideways into the water.

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He wound up taking a dreaded double-bogey six to tumble from well inside the top 10 in a true dinner spoiler if ever there was one.

"That was pretty unfortunate," Smith said.

"I was trying to get it down there on the left but the rough caught the heel (of the club) a little bit and it went a little bit further than I anticipated."

After starting the day eight back after a ho-hum even-par first round, Smith had been only three strokes adrift of the lead walking to the 18th tee.

But the 2020 Masters runner-up departed the scorers' hut with his deficit more than doubled.

Chilean Mito Pereira signed for a 65 to be tied third with Swede Alex Noren (67) and Straka (71).

Home hope Hideki Matsuyama was also eight under but still had two holes of his round to negotiate when officials called it a night under fading light in Tokyo.

Smith had been steaming towards matching, or maybe even bettering, the Olympic record round of 63 before more thunderstorms forced a 90-minute suspension of play.

With six birdies in his first 14 holes, the Queenslander had surged from equal 41st overnight into a share of fifth spot.

But the delay halted his momentum, Smith making his first bogey of the day immediately after the resumption, then racking up his number at the last.

"It was a pretty frustrating to get called in like and then to finish like that is annoying, kind of crappy," Smith said.

"I felt like I did a lot of good stuff and didn't get the most out of my round."

Four-time major winner Rory McIlroy, with a 66, fellow Irishman Shane Lowry (65) and Thailand's Jazz Janewattananond (71) are seven under, four behind Schauffele.

Smith's Australian teammate Marc Leishman was one over par, a dozen shots off the lead, and back in a tie for 51st in the 60-man field with two holes to complete in his second round when play resumes on Saturday morning.

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