Scottie Scheffler is an Olympic Gold Medalist
Guyancourt, France (PSF) - As Scottie Scheffler stood on the top step of the podium at Le Golf National moments after shooting a final round 62 (-9) to earn the Olympic gold medal that he was now wearing around his neck, he began to cry as he heard the United States national anthem. Letting the entire world see just how much winning gold for his country meant to him.
While golf has the Ryder and Presidents Cup in which American golfers are able to represent their country against golfers from other nations, the Olympics carry a different weight. This was only the third time golf has been played in the Olympics, with Justin Rose and Xander Schaffuele winning gold in Rio and Tokyo respectively but those victories were in limited fields of high level professional golfers. This year in Paris, every player that qualified through world ranking points participated in this competition. The field was stacked with PGA and LIV tour pros all with the goal of leaving with a gold medal for their country, but Scheffler had a different goal.
Scheffler would tee off on Thursday with Rory McIlroy of Ireland and Ludvig Aberg from Sweden, both top 10 players in the world. Scheffler would shoot 67 (-5) and sat just inside the top 10 after round one. Round two would see Scheffler fall slightly out of the top 10 after a 69 (-3) but he would bounce back on Saturday with another 67 leaving him four back of the leaders heading into the final round on Sunday.
Scheffler started his final round hot with birdies on the first three holes and would go on to par the remainder of the holes on the front nine leaving him multiple shots off the lead as Jon Rahm two groups behind Scheffler was six under through ten holes. Scheffler knew that he would have to get a lot of birdies and needed Rahm to falter on his way into the clubhouse in order to have a chance at medaling. Scheffler put the pedal to the floor on the back nine shooting a six under 29. He had four straight birdies on holes 14 through 17 and after he made his 17 foot birdie putt on the 17th hole he took the lead as the group behind Scheffler started hearing footsteps. Previous leader Rahm had a horrific back nine shooting himself out of contention for gold and his playing partner Tommy Fleetwood would bogey the 17th hole leaving him a shot behind Scheffler and needing a birdie on 18 to force a playoff. Fleetwood would miss his chip for birdie and Scheffler officially secured gold for the United States. Fleetwood would get silver and Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama would get bronze.
Scheffler’s victory cements his player of the year status and caps one of the greatest individual years of golf ever. With seven wins on the year including a Masters and an Olympic gold Medal, finishing top 10 in all but one of the major championships and no missed cuts, Scheffler put himself in an exclusive category of golfers this year. The wins this year for Scheffler came in a multitude of different ways and on various different types of courses; at the Masters and RBC Heritage he ran away from the field on the back nine, at the Players he tracked down everyone starting the final round five shots back, at the Memorial and Travelers he had to hold off legitimate challengers in order to secure the win. Scheffler has been battle tested this year and showed everyone on the world’s biggest stage why he is the number one player in the world.
Olympic golf up to this point hasn’t had the weight to it that the major championships have or even The Players which is often referred to as golf’s fifth major championship. With the excitement and passion that was shown in France this past week, I have a hard time believing golfers now would prefer to win a The Players instead of an Olympic gold medal. With the attention of the whole world, a stacked field and leaderboard, and an incredible finish Olympic golf is now legitimate and with the next Olympics taking place in Los Angeles and the golf being played at Riviera Country Club which is the site of the Genesis Invitational, every player will be looking to qualify and attempt to grab a medal for their country at a familiar course.
Jon Rahm looked posed for an amazing bounce back to his subpar stretch of golf since winning the Masters in 2023, he stood on the 11th tee with a four shot lead on the field. He was six under through the first 10 holes of the final round and then the wheels fell off. Rahm would bogey 11 and 12, double bogey 14, and bogey 17 and 18. Rahm's frustration was obvious as he finished his round and afterwards voiced his frustration of letting down his native country. Rahm came into the tournament after winning the previous LIV Tour event and a top 10 finish at The Open Championship so many thought this was Rahm’s chance to silence the discourse that he hasn’t been the same since his move to LIV and that he is no longer on the level of Scheffler.
Tommy Fleetwood was incredibly close to winning a gold medal for Great Britain and if not for his bogey on 17 he would have gone to a playoff with Scheffler for gold. Fleetwood is one of the best players in the world despite not having a PGA Tour win and he showed that fact during this competition and is inevitably gonna break through at some point, but for now he gets to bring silver home.
Hideki Matsuyama earned a bronze medal and further built on his legacy as the greatest Japanese golfer of all time. Matsuyama adds a medal to his resume, along with being the first Japanese professional to win a major championship with his win at the Masters in 2021 and his nine total PGA Tour wins. Matsuyama has had a solid year also winning the Genesis Invitational in February with a final round 62 (-9).
Tom Kim of South Korea had an interesting storyline going into the last day of competition in this event. Every able bodied South Korean male must serve in the military and one of the only means of exemption is winning a medal. Kim just turned 22 and is already one of the best young players on tour. He has three wins since getting his tour card in 2022 and was electric in the Presidents Cup in 2022. Unfortunately, Kim would finish in 8th place after playing in the final round with one of his best friends Scottie Scheffler. With any hope Kim should have another chance at winning a medal in the Asia Games in order to avoid military service and losing two years of his prime.
Olympic golf has gained a lot of respect and admiration among golf fans and professionals and seems to have given the game of golf another major played every four years. While the Ryder Cup will always be the most celebrated form of international golf due to its team format and expansive history, Olympic golf following up the next year gives the golf world another iteration of professional golfers not playing for money but playing for the pride of their country.
