Olympic Golf: Tommy Fleetwood and Rory McIlroy in competition with Jon Rahm and Xander Schauffele in the lead

Fleetwood said: “My swing isn’t smooth. It’s not where I want it to be, but I’ve been doing really well all week.

“When you can’t push like you want to, it can be frustrating.

“But patience is an asset that everyone needs at certain times, and I showed it, I was happy with how I did.”

Fleetwood inspired Europe to win the Ryder Cup in 2018 at Le Golf National – where the Paris 2024 event is being held – and received huge support as he moved to 13 under par overall.

Recent Open champion Schauffele, who shot a 68, nearly took the lead with a birdie putt that fell inches short on the 18th.

The duo will again go out last together for the final round on Sunday, joined by former world number one Rahm.

American Scottie Schefflerthe current best male player on the planet, is alongside McIlroy at 10 under.

McIlroy, 35, put himself in contention for a first Olympic medal after correcting the mistakes he made before the weekend.

“It was a really solid round of golf,” said McIlroy, who missed the podium by finishing tied for fourth in his first Games at Tokyo 2020.

“It would have been nice to be able to take a few more shots on the last nine holes.

“But I think tomorrow, depending on what the leaders do, I’m probably going to have to have my worst score of the week to have a chance of getting a medal. That’s the goal.”

Teammate of the Irish team Shane Lowry is five under par after also shooting a 66.

But Britain Matt Fitzpatrick had a last nine to forget and had to retire later due to a sprained thumb.

The Englishman, making his Olympic debut, finished seven over par after the turn – including a quadruple bogey at eight on the treacherous 15.

He found the water twice while going around the green, then shot a 10-over 81 to leave him five over.