As the last notes of The Star-Spangled Banner played for Scottie Scheffler, gold medal around his neck, the world’s No.1-ranked golfer began to cry. An unexpected four, five, six wipes of his eyes with a bent elbow. The stoic Scheffler hasn’t cried in public at any of his other victories so far this season. This one, though, the one where he won zero dollars, outwardly meant the most.
The emotions of the Olympics were on full display Sunday at the finale of the men’s golf competition. And it was the most thrilling back nine of any event of 2024 — with not a cent on the line.
Rory McIlroy, who made five straight birdies after making the turn but ended up two shots back of the bronze medal after a double bogey on the par-4 15th derailed his chances at the podium, said that the Ryder Cup, in his mind, was the best tournament in the game in terms of pure competition. But the Olympics, which is still in its infancy, has the potential to be up there too.
“I think with how much of a s–t show the game of golf is right now, 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,” McIlroy said. “So, it speaks volumes for what’s important in sports and what’s important, I think every single player this week has had an amazing experience.”
Scheffler’s gold medal will pair nicely with his green jacket, thank you very much, and has firmly put him on the inside track to win Player of the Year. It was a tremendous finish for the American, who matched the course record at Le Golf National, a 9-under 62, on Sunday. Scheffler made six birdies on his back nine, including a fist-pumping, quick-step roll on No. 17. He is the first person since golf returned to the Olympics in 2016 to come from behind for gold.
We don’t see Scheffler cry in public too often, although he admitted he cried before the final round of the Masters in 2022 to his wife, Meredith, unsure if he could rise to the moment. He also cried this year at the Masters, after he won — a private moment in the bathroom, he said. Scheffler also got emotional watching the gold-medal ceremony at the women’s gymnastics. He’s a proud American, he said, with a grandfather who fought in the Korean War and who was taught from an early age to hold his hand over his heart for the anthem.
“It’s emotional sitting there on the podium and hearing your national anthem, it really is. It’s been a long week. It’s been a challenging week. I played some great golf today, and I’m proud to be going home with a medal,” Scheffler said. “There was a lot of talented guys in the field this week. These guys played tremendous golf. And I think we should all be proud of the golf that we played this week.”
Scheffler has won six times on the PGA Tour so far this season, locking horns with Xander Schauffele for Player of the Year honours as the latter captured two major championships over the last five weeks. The gold medal should be the thing that tips any remaining votes Scheffler’s way (with the FedExCup Playoffs still to come through the rest of August) but he said he’s trying not to focus on legacy, for now.
“As far as my legacy goes, I really don’t think about it too much. This is just part of my life that I do out here and it’s something that I work very hard at. I’m proud to be sitting here with a god medal,” Scheffler said.
It did not always seem like Scheffler’s day, however.
At one point as he made the turn, Jon Rahm was up an incredible four shots and had most of his forehead around the gold medal. But with the classic thrill of victory comes, of course, the agony of defeat. Rahm bogeyed Nos. 11 and 12, and then made a disastrous double bogey on the par-5 14th. He also added bogeys on Nos. 17 and 18 — playing as the two hardest holes of the week — to shoot a 1-under 71. He finished off the podium, with Tommy Fleetwood (Great Britain) winning silver at 18 under (“Standing on that podium with a medal in front of the crowd was one of the most amazing moments I’ve had as a golfer,” he said) one back of Scheffler, and Hideki Matsuyama (Japan) winning bronze at 17 under.
“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,” Rahm said.
Up and down the leaderboard, there were the kind of emotions you don’t ever see from the game’s best. South Korea’s Tom Kim, who is close friends with Scheffler and played with him in the final round, was 4 under through nine holes and within shouting distance of a medal — which would have earned him an exemption from his country’s 21-month mandatory military service — but he stumbled home and finished eighth. Scheffler, after his course-record-tying round, put his arm around Kim and they walked off the green together. Kim was shown on television cameras crying in the scoring area.
“Never been really emotional after a round,” Kim said. “I was just struggling earlier this year and I really wanted to make the Olympics […] once the round finishes, everything is done and done. I think the emotions that I’ve held in this year are coming out.”
And then there was France’s Victor Perez, who got the home-country crew rallying behind him through Sunday en route to shooting an 8-under 63. Perez finished just a shot back of Matsuyama’s bronze-medal total of 17 under. Perez was 6 under over a five-hole stretch on his back nine and there was an audible “Vic-tor! Vic-tor!” chant every time he got to a tee box or a green. A “great week,” he said, despite falling just short of the podium.
Canadian Corey Conners, meanwhile, had his best round of the week. Finally, the putts fell. The native of Listowel, Ont., shot a 5-under 66 in Sunday’s finale and moved into a tie for ninth.
Although it’s podium-or-bust at the Olympics, Conners notched his fourth top-10 finish in his last six starts around the world, and against a field as stout as the one he faced at Le Golf National, it was a positive week overall as he looks to lock up his spot on the Presidents Cup team.
“I’m happy with the score I posted but it wasn’t far off of being two, three, or four better. Gave myself a lot of good opportunities and made a few (putts) today. Wanted a little bit more out of the score, but overall, a lot of positives with where the game is at,” Conners said.
Fellow Canadian Nick Taylor shot a 2-under 69 Sunday to finish tied for 30th.
Conners said the atmosphere was “phenomenal” on Sunday and had been that way since the first round on Thursday. Coming from Tokyo, where there were no fans due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Canadian said things were “full throttle” this week. He’ll be 37 by the time the next Olympics rolls around, and he’d like nothing more than to be able to show off some hardware to his growing family at some point.
The emotions and the reward of the Olympics — there’s nothing like it, even for golfers.
“It’s great to represent your country no matter what it is,” Conners said, “and this is the pinnacle of that in our game.”