Olympic golf finally delivers on promise
Scheffler rushes to win as Rahm falters, but the whole experience was gold-medal worthy
Tommy Fleetwood (silver), Scottie Scheffler (gold) and Hideki Matsuyama (bronze) (Tracy Wilcox/PGA Tour/IGF)
SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, FRANCE (IGF/DD) — Were you not entertained?
Jon Rahm wilted. Xander Schauffele ran out of gas. Victor Perez roared. Rory McIlroy rose and sank. Tommy Fleetwood flinched. Hideki Matsuyama medaled. Scottie Scheffler wept.
What more could anyone want from an Olympic golf final heat.
World No. 1 Scheffler produced a spectacular 9-under 62 at Le Golf National on Sunday, equaling the course record and emerging from a star-studded leaderboard to win gold at the Men’s Olympic Golf Competition.
On a thrilling final day in the outskirts of Paris, the American was flawless from start to finish — starting with three straight birdies and finishing with a back-nine 29 — to surge ahead and reach 19-under 265.
Fleetwood of Great Britain fell just short of emulating Rio 2016 gold medalist Justin Rose as a closing 66 saw him settle for silver, one shot behind Scheffler at 18-under. Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama rounded out the podium finishers with bronze, finishing a shot further back.
Frenchman Victor Perez delighted the home crowd with a brilliant final-round 63 to finish solo fourth at 16-under, shooting 29 on the back himself but failing to make birdie putts on his last two holes.
McIlroy of Ireland and Spain’s Jon Rahm shared fifth at 15-under, a bitter end result for the Spaniard who reached 20-under and was four shots in the leading at the 11th tee before collapsing.
Scheffler trailed overnight co-leaders Rahm and Schauffele — who was targeting back-to-back golds — by four shots but showed his pedigree to follow up a fast start with an electric finish that included a run of four straight birdies from Nos. 14-17.
“Most of the day we were trying to stay patient,” Scheffler said. “I saw that Rahm had gotten to 20-under, and so I kind of changed a little bit mentally to just really try to do my best to move my way up the leaderboard, and at one point I didn’t even really know if I was in contention or not. I just tried to do my best to make some birdies and start moving up and maybe get a medal or something like that just because Jon is such a great player.
“I was doing my best, once I started making some birdies to try to get to 19-under to give myself a chance to get in. I was fortunate to execute some shots there down the stretch.”
The victory is Scheffler’s seventh title of what has been a remarkable season, which already included his successful title defense of the Players Championship in March and his second green jacket at the Masters Tournament in April.
Scheffler’s cried on the podium as the U.S. National Anthem played in honor of his gold.
“I got emotional the other night watching the gold medal ceremony for the women’s gymnastics,” Scheffler said. “I take tremendous pride in coming over here and representing my country. … It was just very emotional being up there on stage there as the flag is being raised and sitting there singing the National Anthem. Yes, that’s definitely one I'll remember for a long time.”
Fleetwood held a share of the lead with Scheffler on the 17th tee, but he overshot his approach from the rough and miscued his chip shot in leading to a bogey that proved costly as he was unable a birdie at the last to force a playoff.
“There’s part of me that’s disappointed, of course, but at the same time, I never dreamt that I would be an Olympic medalist,” Fleetwood said. “You know, I’m still unbelievably proud and happy with the way the week went. I was proud of the way I played today. And yeah, I enjoyed it so much. I take that away from it.”
Matsuyama, who held a share of the halfway lead, lost ground on Saturday with a level-par 71, but he bounced back in style with a bogey-free 65 to medal in his second Olympics.
Jon Rahm was crushed by letting big lip slip away (Tracy Wilcox/PGA Tour/IGF)
Earlier in the day, Rahm seemed on track to win gold for Spain as he opened up a four-shot lead around the turn, but back-to-back bogeys at the 11th and 12th gave back his entire cushion to consecutive birdies by Fleetwood, opening the door for a finishing free-for-all for the podium. A double-bogey 7 at the 14th dropped Rahm out of podium position and he couldn’t recover and drifted with back-to-back bogeys on his final two holes.
“I don’t remember the last time I played a tournament and I felt this. I don’t know what the word is because, you know, I not only feel like I let myself down but to just not get it done for the whole country of Spain, it’s a lot more painful than I would like it to be.
“I was 20-under and four ahead on 11 tee and let it slip away. I did it myself. What it represents and what it could have been for Spain is what makes it more painful. … It’s hard to let my country down in that way. Had it under control and then just let it go.”
McIlroy made a run with a spirited closing 66, but it was derailed by a double bogey at the 15th when he found water with his approach, ultimately ending his chance of a medal.
Rory McIlroy got into the mix before water ball on 15 sunk medal hopes (Ben Jared/PGA Tour/IGF)
“I looked at the board again after I birdied 14 and I was one behind and I was like, ‘Holy sh-it, what just happened?’” McIlroy said. “Even that wedge shot on 15, I hit the shot I wanted to hit. The two boys in front of me, Nicolai and Hideki, they got their balls up in the air a little bit more and the wind carried it, and I saw they went like 25, 30 feet past.
“I hit the shot I wanted to hit but I didn’t get the ball in the air enough for the wind to carry it the extra three or four yards I needed to. Tried to stay aggressive and land a wedge between the front edge and the hole. Missed my spot by merely three or four yards and that ended up costing me a medal.”
Scottie Scheffler got emotional on the podium during National Anthem (Andrew Redington/Getty Images)
Olympic gold? It just means more
SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, FRANCE — Scottie Scheffler’s nine-birdie final day effort will certainly be remembered, but probably more meaningful in the big picture will be the images of his tears from the podium.
Golf’s inclusion in the Olympic Games was solidified Sunday in many ways, but Scheffler’s emotional response to winning the gold medal at Le Golf National might very well have been the biggest example of how much it really meant.
Tom Kim was despondent and Jon Rahm said he felt he let Spain down. Rory McIlroy referred to himself as the “Nearly Man,” and he’s not saying that if he had come up short in some random event.
Golf found its place this week in France and Scheffler, the game’s No. 1 player, delivered a round worthy of envy. While Rahm was playing a four-hole stretch in 4-over par and McIlroy was dumping a wedge shot into the water on 15, Scheffler birdied six holes on the back nine to shoot a record-tying 62, finishing a shot ahead of Tommy Fleetwood and two ahead of Hideki Matsuyama.
That fact that it all mattered so much is the biggest indication that golf in the Olympics has emerged from its skeptical origins.
Players cared — perhaps more than they thought would be possible.
“Yes, by far, a lot more,’’ said Australia’s Jason Day, who tied for ninth. “Not only playing for your country and your teammates. The crowd has made it fantastic to be a part of it. Definitely feel honored to be able to come here and represent my country. It’s been a fun week. The dinners, team dinners have been tremendous and we had a lot of fun.
“Typically we are always constantly trying to win tournaments on the PGA Tour. We look at the money list and we look at what money we'd make. You don’t earn anything this week. You’re earning a medal, and I think that brings out something deep from whether it’s when you’re a junior golfer or amateur golfer that it means something more than just some money at the end of the day for us.
“It’s definitely opened my eyes, too; I’ve thoroughly enjoyed representing something bigger than myself. That’s been a complete honor to do that.”
Jason Day (right) and Joaquin Niemann had a ball playing for their countries (Tracy Wilcox/PGA Tour/IGF)
Player after player said similar things. The atmosphere at Le Golf National was on the level of a major championship, and the players were stoked to compete in such an environment.
“Amazing. We were talking about it out there and Nico (Nicolai Højgaard) reckons it’s the best tournament he’s ever been involved in, and he’s played a Ryder Cup,’’ McIlroy said after finishing tied for fifth, his shot at a medal drowned by a wedge shot that came up short on the 15th hole.
“I still think that the Ryder Cup is the best tournament that we have in our game, pure competition, and I think this has the potential to be right up there with it. I think with how much of a sh-t show the game of golf is right now and you think about the two tournaments that might be the purest form of competition in our sport, we don’t play for money in it.
“So it speaks volumes for what’s important in sports and what’s important, I think, is every single player this week has had an amazing experience.”
McIlroy was referring to the on-going division in the game that was hardly a topic this week. No questions about the Public Investment Fund and whether or not it will invest in the PGA Tour Enterprises. No speculation as to what a unified game might mean.
Those are important topics that need to be resolved. But it didn’t matter this past week.
It’s telling that both McIlroy and Day stepped up this week to offer their views on how big the Olympics are to them. Both of them skipped in 2016 when golf returned for the first time since 1904. Both have said they regretted the decision.
Day was ranked No. 1 in the world at the time he passed. McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson and others also skipped. It made for a murky future, as golf is not assured beyond the 2028 games. And the COVID Olympics of 2021 were not a fair gauge, as no fans were allowed to attend.
A strong leaderboard with seven of the top 15 players in the world among the top 10 going into the final round certainly helped.
So, too, did the venue. Le Golf National, which hosted a very successful Ryder Cup in 2018, was excellent, far better than expected as it relates to the fan experience and support. While the course has been home to several big tournaments over the years, including the French Open, the country is not on the level of the United States and the United Kingdom when it comes to its golf passion.
Spectators came out in full force, never more apparent when Frenchmen Victor Perez or Mattieu Pavon did anything of note. It was Perez who made a late push for a medal on Sunday, hearing the French national anthem on nearly ever hole and he finished fourth, one stroke off the podium.
And fans from other countries found their way some 30 miles outside of Paris to fill the grandstands, concession lines and gallery ropes.
“I can’t believe the amount of Irish support I’ve had out there,” said Shane Lowry. “It’s been incredible. I said to Darren (Reynolds, his caddie), not even doing well and they are still out there. It’s pretty cool. I was in Tokyo (for the 2021 Olympics) as well, and let’s be honest, it didn’t feel like a huge tournament. But COVID was weird.
“But this certainly feels like one of the biggest tournaments in the world when you’re here, which is pretty cool.”
The idea that 72 holes of stroke play is a bad idea was somewhat put to rest, but only in terms of trying to determine an individual champion.
Golf can still use a team format one that would have made for a very compelling finish as well. Imagine if Wyndham Clark, who opened with a 75, had a score that would have been paired with Scheffler’s on Sunday. Clark rebounded with scores of 68-65-65. A team title on the line would have also been wildly entertaining.
But those talks are for another day. The powers that be have some time to try and figure it out.
For now, they can relish a great week in France, and just how much it meant to the game.