In a stunning Olympics final round Sunday, World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler pulled off an incredible come-from-behind performance to steal the Olympic gold medal.
Beginning the day four shots behind leaders Xander Schauffele and Jon Rahm at Le Golf National, Scheffler blitzed the back nine for six birdies to shoot a nine-under 62 and take home the title for the U.S. England’s Tommy Fleetwood finished second to win the silver medal, with Hideki Matsuyama earning the bronze for Japan.
“It’s pretty high up there,” Scheffler said after the round about where his gold medal ranks among career accomplishments. “Anytime you’re able to represent your country is pretty special. This was a fun week and it was great representing the USA, and I’m proud to be going home with a medal.”
But for the first half of Sunday’s finale, the reigning Masters champion was something of an afterthought, trailing the leaders as other stars initially looked destined for the podium.
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The 54-hole leaders started steady with pars at the first two holes, but it didn’t take long for them to heat up. Both Schauffele and Rahm matched each other with back-to-back birdies at the par-5 3rd and par-4 4th to reach 16 under, and playing partner Fleetwood ran his birdie streak to three-straight holes at the same time to improve to 15 under.
Meanwhile, Matsuyama, who shot even par on Saturday, got off to a blazing start with three birdies over his first five holes on Sunday to get back into contention at 14 under. But he wasn’t done there. Matsuyama rolled in a 10-footer for another birdie at 6 to get within one shot of the lead.
At the par-4 6th, Schauffele hit his approach well inside of Rahm’s. But Rahm drained his 23-footer for his third birdie of the day. When Schauffele’s closer birdie try burned the edge, Rahm was in the lead alone at 17 under.
After Rahm recorded two more birdies at 7 and 9 to close out the front nine, and Schauffele made bogey at 8, the Spanish star and two-time major champion started pulling away from the pack.
But while the distance between Rahm and Schauffele was growing, two other players were desperately trying to keep pace with Rahm. Fleetwood, who was three under on the front nine, added another birdie at the 11th. Meanwhile, two early back-nine birdies moved Hideki Matsuyama to six under through 12 holes, leaving them both tied for second at 17 under.
Just when it started to seem that the gold medal was Rahm’s to lose, his cruise control shut off with back-to-back bogeys at 11 and 12. Moments after Rahm’s par try at 12 narrowly missed, Fleetwood rolled in a birdie, and just like that Rahm’s four-shot advantage had disappeared, with both players tied at 18 under.
Rory McIlroy, who had seemed completely out of contention when Rahm went on his front-nine charge, opened his own back nine with four consecutive birdies, suddenly moving him to 16 under just two shots off the lead. A tap-in birdie after a long eagle putt at 16 — his fifth birdie in a row — pushed him within one of the lead.
McIlroy’s brief charge would come undone when his approach shot at the 15th hole hit the putting surface then spun back into the pond guarding the front of the green, resulting in a devastating double bogey.
But neither McIlroy nor Rahm was receiving the biggest roars from fans at Le Golf National. Those were reserved for France’s own Victor Perez. Beginning at the 12th hole, Perez caught fire in front of the boisterous French crowds, going six under over his next five holes to reach 16 under and legitimately get into contention for a medal, maybe even the gold variety.
Throughout the day, Scheffler had quietly hung around waiting for his moment to strike, and when Rahm started to falter, strike he did.
Starting with the par-5 14th, the reigning Masters champion reeled off three consecutive birdies of his own to tie Rahm and Fleetwood for the lead at 18 under.
Scheffler’s case would be aided by the final pairing’s play on the par-5 14th hole. Rahm hit a poor second shot that found the deep rough to the left of the green. Fleetwood experienced a brutal break when his second shot landed in the collar of a bunker, creating a difficult stance and contact situation.
Standing on the tee minutes earlier, both players had hoped to make birdie, and Fleetwood was at least able to sink a 5-footer to save par and remain tied with Scheffler at 18 under. Rahm, on the other hand, made a mess of things, missing a short putt for 6 to record a double bogey, dropping him to 16 under.
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At the tricky 17th hole, Scheffler lost his tee shot into the deep rough left of the fairway, threatening his gold-medal charge. But with a mighty thwack the World No. 1 not only reached the green in regulation but set up a good look at birdie to take the lead. The uphill 17-footer was in the entire way, and with a fist-pump Scheffler moved into sole possession of the lead at 19 under.
But Fleetwood wasn’t going down without a fight. The English pro stuck his tee shot on the par-3 16th, then sank the ensuing 9-footer to join Scheffler at the top of the leaderboard with two holes to play.
Scheffler had just one hole left to close out his comeback effort. His tee shot at 18 ended up in some thick rough beside a fairway bunker, but again Scheffler put his incredible shotmaking skills to use, reaching the green with his second shot and setting up another birdie chance. This one, though, was a curving downhill putt. Scheffler ran his birdie try a few feet past the hole. But he made the comebacker to finish off his 62 and post at 19 under.
“I was trying to stay aggressive, and I was doing my best to stay patient and wait for my putter to get hot,” Scheffler told Golf Channel Sunday evening. “I hit some really nice shots on the back nine and hit some nice putts. And really I was just trying to do anything I could do make some birdies, and I was fortunate to be able to get it done.”
