France’s Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines When Scottie Scheffler is on the golf course, it is hard to forget about him, but by midafternoon on Sunday, it appeared to be over. Jon Rahm was in control of the men’s golf competition at the Olympics. a four-shot advantage with seven remaining holes. Prepare the medal.
Scheffler, though, was present at Le Golf National. Furthermore, no one had yet the gold medal around their neck.
The top player in the world added to his resume with a spectacular and courageous 9-under 62, becoming just the third guy to earn an individual gold medal for the United States in these Games, behind only a back-nine 6-under 29.
With a final round that tied the Le Golf National course record, Scheffler defeated Tommy Fleetwood of England, who had been tied for first position with Scheffler until bogeying the 17th hole and then playing it safe on the challenging 18th.
Hideki Matsuayama of Japan won the fight of the bronze medal with a final-round 65-stroke total of 17-under-par, two strokes behind Scheffler and one behind Fleetwood. Frenchman Victor Perez came from behind the pace with a back-nine 29 but was just one stroke short of a podium finish.
Maybe Scheffler’s moving Sunday should not have come as a huge surprise. Two weeks ago, at the Open Championship in Scotland, he looked like he was about to put together a run of birdies and win the tournament after four rounds. Rather, lip-outs and a few short putts that were missed left him tied for seventh place. This week’s Thursday through Saturday conditions were largely unchanged, but Scheffler still managed to record rounds of 67, 69, and 67, even though players like Rahm and Open winner Xander Schauffele appeared to be in charge of the tournament.
Rather, the Scheffler Legend got more extensive. The 29-year-old has already finished in the top five 20 times, won two of the previous three Masters, and made 14 of his previous 59 starts. For everyone else, the worrisome part is that it appears he is improving. Seven of Scheffler’s previous 11 appearances have resulted in victories, all of them in majors or prestigious events with small fields.
The distance between Scheffler and the others seemed to grow every week. Scheffler made all three of his birdie putts on Nos. 14, 15, and 16, which had a cumulative distance of 10 feet, 10 inches. He had a challenging second shot out of the rough on hole number 17, but he advanced into the lead with his superb iron play, leaving himself 17 feet for birdie.
He is now the third male American golfer to earn a gold medal, after Schauffele in Tokyo 2020 and Charles Sands in 1900, both of whom also won in Paris.
Rahm will remember his collapse on Sunday for a very long time. At one point, the entire day seemed like a token to his heroes, José María Olazábal and Seve Ballesteros, who were never given the chance to compete in the Olympics. Rahm was going to deliver a victory for Spain and signal his ascent back to the top of the game. Rather, bogeys at 11 and 12 and a series of nervous swings that followed ruined a four-shot lead. He made a double bogey on the par-5 14th, one more on the 16th, and a bogey on the 17th to lose out on a bronze.
Maybe the greatest player in golf who has not won a major, Fleetwood, had the opportunity to have a day that would define his career. On 17, however, the 33-year-old shot an approach long and faced a tough chip that he ultimately ran well beyond the hole, tying for the lead. He was eliminated from a tie for first place by the bogey. He shot his approach long left, killing those chances, needing a birdie on 18. He stood and stooped to retrieve the coin.
After starting the day tied for the lead, Schauffele had a rare off day, finishing tied for ninth with a 2-over 73.
Perhaps the greatest triumph this week was golf’s inclusion in the Olympic Games. After competing in the 1900 and 1904 Games, the sport was eliminated from the schedule. It was brought back in 2016, although it never really took off. The 2020 Tokyo Games took place during a pandemic, whereas the Rio Games were far away and disjointed.
Paris altered the story. Huge attendance on all three days, authentic Olympic spirit, and a scoreboard loaded with stars demonstrated the sport’s rightful place in the Games. There is a chance golf will finally take off and become popular if mixed team play is allowed for the 2028 Los Angeles Games. The venue for those 2028 Games is Riviera Country Club.
(Top photo of Scottie Scheffler: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)
