Overcome by emotion on the medal podium
Fifty or even 100 years from now, golf historians may say golf in the Olympics rose to new heights with the 2024 Paris Games and its men’s competition. And that does not diminish the gold medals won by Justin Rose in Rio in 2016 and Xander Schauffele in Tokyo in 2021. But unlike those Games beset respectively by the Zika virus (causing some players to withdraw beforehand) and by the pandemic (resulting in no spectators), the men’s golf competition last week was conducted at full throttle, with huge, vocal and enthusiastic galleries swarming Le Golf National mindful of a Ryder Cup. And unlike the 2018 Ryder Cup held there, this time an American superstar prevailed in triumph, a golden moment rinsed in tears.
The image of Scottie Scheffler’s eyes welling up in emotion as he stood high on the podium listening to his country’s national anthem and watching the American flag being raised is one best reflective of this humble and well-grounded champion. May it further reduce to irrelevance that unfortunate and surreal mugshot taken of him in Louisville at this year’s PGA Championship.
Coming back from four shots starting the final round, Olympic rookie Scheffler shot a nine-under par 62, tying the course record and becoming the first No. 1-ranked athlete in the Olympic Golf Ranking to earn a medal in the men’s Olympic golf competition. His 72-hole total of 19-under par 265 set a new Olympic record, even though its history is only measured from 2016 when golf was re-introduced as part of the Games. (The first Olympic golf tournament was played in Paris in 1900, with the sport dropped after the St Louis Games in 1904.)
Scheffler’s back nine 29 (six-under) on Sunday, was sensational, with four straight birdies on holes 14-17. But he also started the round in strong fashion, making three opening birdies to climb up the leaderboard.
When asked afterward to point out some crucial holes in the final round, Scheffler said: “I would say two shots. I think the par putt I holed on 13 was really important. Just keeping the momentum in the round. Keeping the card clean. That was a hole there where I had a good chance to make birdie and all of a sudden I’m in a tough place after getting overaggressive. The approach shot I hit into 15 I think was really important to get one in there close. (He made birdie.)
Scheffler’s golden moment
Scheffler was also generous in praising his long-time caddie, Ted Scott. In fact, Scott read most of his putts in the tournament.
“Beginning on the back nine on Friday he started reading all my putts. That’s something that we had done before and we had not done a lot this year. I was just having trouble seeing the breaks out here. We made that adjustment, and Teddy did a really good job of giving me some good reads.”
For someone who has struggled (strange to use that word) at times with his putting this year despite his brilliant season, Scheffler’s trust in Scott’s eyes proved pivotal. Equally important was how Scott helped maintain Scheffler’s composure on Sunday.
“I would say Teddy was a huge part of keeping me in the right head space and helping me stay patient out there.”
The good-natured Texan was also quick to share the spotlight with his medal-winning colleagues, silver medalist Tommy Fleetwood of Great Britain, bronze medalist Hideki Matsuyama of Japan, and the rest of the Olympic players.
“But there’s a lot of great players, Tommy being one of them, and Hideki, that did their best to make some runs this week, and I think we should all be proud of the golf that we played and we all put up a good fight.”
But in the end, the fight belonged to Scheffler. He battled and stayed in the moment as champions do, never succumbing to emotion until he stood on the podium and put his hand over his big heart.
photos courtesy of the IGF/PGA Tour and by Chris Condon and Tracy Wilcox
Special thanks to Tad Dickman, IGF’s media relations, for his excellent and thorough efforts in providing extensive information about the Olympic golf competition.
IGF was founded in 1958 and is the recognized International Federation within the Olympic and Paralympic Movement. The headquarters of the IGF is located by the shores of Lake Geneva in Lausanne, Switzerland.
