When le dust in Paris settled, Team USA's Scottie Scheffler (-19) emerged as le best golfer in le world.
Scheffler carded a bogey-free 62 to snatch the gold medal from a host of contenders from the PGA Tour and LIV Golf at Le Golf National.
Scheffler lingered around podium territory all week — he entered Round 4 four strokes off the lead — but hadn't produced one of those rounds, when everything clicks. Sunday in the park at Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, it happened.
The World No. 1 birdied his first three holes, six of nine after the turn, and four of the last five. He shot a 29 on the back nine. For the round, he gained nearly eight strokes on the field. 10 birdies, no bogeys. Tied the course record.
Expect anything different? Scottie certainly didn't.
“I'd like to be leading,” Scheffler said Saturday. “I feel like I haven't had my best stuff the last few days, but I've done enough to hang in there and stay in the tournament. Around this course, you can get hot. You saw Nicolai [Hojgaard] had a really nice round today [62]. I'm going to need something like that tomorrow if I’m going to be holding a medal.”
After losing strokes on the field with his putter in each of the first three rounds, Scheffler gained 1.58 strokes on the greens on Sunday.
Scheffler took his first lead of the Games with a birdie on no. 17 — only the second 3 of the day on the daunting par-4. Golf is limitlessly complex, but one truth could not be simpler: when Scottie Scheffler makes putts, he wins.
If Scheffler's putting guaranteed gold, his unmatched ball-striking created the opportunity. After sending his 17th tee shot into the thick rough left of the fairway, the best iron player on Earth placed a bold, high-arcing approach onto the green, setting up the dagger putt from 17 feet away. By contrast, Fleetwood, two groups behind him, failed to stick a similar approach onto the 17th green when he was up. (Fleetwood also mishit his approach on no. 18, all-but handing the gold to Scheffler.)
Fleetwood (-17, final round 66) settled for silver. Japan's Hideki Matsuyama (-16, 65) earned bronze. France's Victor Perez came within one shot of the podium with a sterling Sunday 63. All week, the electric atmosphere at Le Golf National resembled a Ryder Cup.
“I thought the crowds were great this week. I was pretty surprised the first day by just how big they were. It was great, you know, hearing the cheers,” said Scheffler. “The way they supported the French players this week was pretty unbelievable. Some of the guys were talking about the French players, almost getting the Tiger treatment out there, getting chants and cheering for them every hole.”
As Scheffler caught fire, his opponents stumbled. Spain's Jon Rahm, who led by four strokes on Sunday, played holes nos. 11-14 at 4-over par. Rory McIlroy (Ireland) found the water for a costly double-bogey on no. 14. Schauffele, the co-leader entering the final round, fell out of contention with bogeys on nos. 8, 12, and 13. (Wyndham Clark polished a strong week at 11-under for Team USA. Collin Morikawa finished with a quiet 6-under.)
The 27-year-old Dallas resident, who became a dad in June, was overcome with emotion at the podium as “The Star-Spangled Banner” blared.
“I would say first and foremost I'm proud of the country I'm from,” Scheffler said about tearing up at the medal ceremony. “I'm proud to be American. I got emotional the other night watching the gold medal ceremony for the women's gymnastics. I take tremendous pride in coming over here and representing my country.
“When you go to a sporting event, you hear everybody in the stands singing the national anthem, it's a pretty special thing to be a part of, and I think that's something we take tremendous pride in.”
It'll be the farther thing from his mind, but Scheffler now regains momentum over two-time 2024 major winner Xander Schauffele in the PGA Tour Player of the Year race. (Scheffler joined Schauffele and Charles Sands in 1900 as American gold-winning golfers.) Scheffler has won six times on the PGA Tour this season, including four Signature Events, the Players, and the Masters.
Bet that gold medal looks pretty good with a green jacket.
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