Golf fans couldn’t have asked for much more with the Olympic leaderboard. The stars were rising to the top.
Starting the final round at Le Golf National, Jon Rahm and Xander Schauffele were leading, with a host of other names like Tommy Fleetwood, Scottie Scheffler, Hideki Matsuyama, Rory McIlroy and more in contention.
But late Sunday afternoon the loudest chants weren’t for Scheffler, who shot 62 to take the gold medal, or Fleetwood (silver) or Matsuyama (bronze). They were for the world No. 75, Victor Perez who finished one shot off the podium.
Why? Because the Frenchman gave his home-country fans something to cheer about late Sunday.
Perez started the final round at the Olympic Men’s Golf Competition six back of the leaders and was nine back of Jon Rahm after 11 holes while he was just two under for the day.
Then he went on a nuclear run of 3-3-3-3-2 to vault from afterthought to serious podium contender as Rahm and others began to falter.
The middle three came with an eagle at the par-5 14th and that’s when Perez said the reality of what could have happened Sunday started to come to him.
“Once you eagle 14, you’re like, oh, sh*t, am I actually in this,” he said. “Even though I knew the last four holes are brutal it would have been hard to find any kind of birdies. I was fortunate to hole two putts on 15 and 16 and par the last two.”
The French faithful knew he was in it too.
On holes 15-18, which sit all next to each other in an amphitheater-like setting at Le Golf National, fans began serenading Perez in the French national anthem. His playing partners, Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Thorbjorn Olesen were helping lead the renditions.
“This theatre at the end created an atmosphere that we don’t get to experience that often, that stadium-like atmosphere which I think we all enjoy but we don’t get often in golf,” he said. “I think I was lucky to play with Thorbjorn and Christian today, good friends that I’ve known since some years on tour and people that have really helped me along the way, kind of enjoying the experience, as well.
“So yeah it was great. I told them on the putting green before the round just an FYI, ‘Guys, it might get a little loud out there and the photographs might get on.’ But they have dealt with it just as great and were absolute gentlemen.”
After a birdie try on the 72nd that came tantalizingly close to getting him to 17 under for the tournament, which would have eventually gotten him into a playoff for the bronze medal, the home crowd celebrated Perez as if he had just won gold after his 63.
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“It’s great,” Perez said, speaking before the leaders had finished. “Obviously if I’m as selfish as every golfer, I wish that putt drops but in the meantime, I’ll have to wait and see where it puts me.”
He gave the home country hope for a medal. Before the event, most would have guessed Matthieu Pavon, France’s highest-ranked player would have been the best hope for the country to medal at the Paris games. But Pavon, who won earlier this year on the PGA Tour and finished 5th at the U.S. Open, finished the tournament with 75-77-74 for last place.
Perez was an afterthought to begin the day, but one magical stretch through him right into the heat of the medal chase.
Ultimately, Matsuyama held on to edge Perez by one stroke for bronze. But the Frenchman reveled in the whole experience.
“I think the Olympics are able to bring not a hundred percent of golf crowd, which I think is great,” he said. “I think people probably go online, see the golf is on, and decide to buy tickets and come watch, and obviously it’s quite entertaining, and I think Paris and Le Golf National has done a great job of having us and hosting the event. It’s been such an iconic venue since the 2018 Ryder Cup that I think everybody has seen in some shape or form highlights or at least the winning putt. It was a great week.”
