The men's Olympics Golf competition wrapped up Sunday afternoon in truly epic fashion. Scottie Scheffler tied a course record at Le Golf National in France to claim the gold medal. His heroics, however, might not have landed him atop the podium had Jon Rahm not faltered so badly.
Rahm, midway through his final round, held a four shot lead. He was playing excellent golf and appeared in control of the tournament.
Then, the back nine happened.
Rahm came home in 39 strokes at 4-over. Meanwhile, Scheffler carded a 29 on the back. Afterwards, Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee did not hold back from blasting the LIV golfer.
“That was just about the wildest back nine that you could ever imagine, ever predict,” Chamblee said. “I'm gonna put that down as one of the biggest collapses, chokes of the year. Right up there with Rory McIlroy coming down the stretch at the U.S. Open.”
Of course, he is referencing McIlroy's atrocious putting during his final few holes of this year's U.S. Open. That ultimately led to Bryson DeChambeau winning his second major.
This collapse might not matter quite as much historically. After all, golf fans and players alike know that the majors, not the Olympics, are how a player is measured. But that does not mean this failure by Jon Rahm hurt any less.
“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” said Rahm.
Rahm's struggles began on 11 and 12 where he bogeyed each hole. As that was happening, Scheffler was staging his comeback.
But 14 truly doomed the Spaniard.
“The main mistake is the third shot on 14… I can't do what I did on the third shot. Can't go left. 8-iron, 162 metres, I believe. Trying to take long out of play and knowing that short right is fine… Ended up paying the price for compounding mistakes on that hole.”
Pay the price he did as Rahm finished tied for fifth, four shots behind the world's top ranked player.
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