Breakfast Ball #31: Olympic Golf Has Arrived

Wow. What a tournament that was. If you didn’t get a chance to watch the finish to the Olympic golf tournament, you missed out.

In This Week’s Newsletter:

Scottie Scheffler Wins Gold at the Paris Olympics After a Final Round 62

Just when you thought this year couldn’t get better for American golf and Scottie Scheffler, the Paris Olympics wrote another chapter in the story. Scottie Scheffler added an Olympic gold medal to his two green jackets with a final round 9-under 62 that tied the course record at Le Golf National. Tommy Fleetwood made a 6-foot putt on the final hole for silver, while Hideki Matsuyama won bronze for Japan.

Through 13 holes, Scheffler was four shots off the lead and had a 0.8% chance of winning the tournament. Then, he turned on the style. Birdies on 14, 15, 16, and 17 propelled him into the lead alongside Tommy Fleetwood and he never looked back. Fleetwood was returning to the course of his 2017 French Open victory and his heroic performance in the 2018 Ryder Cup, and despite a bogey on 17 that cost him the gold medal, he was extremely happy with his performance: “I never dreamt I could be an Olympic medalist … standing on that podium with a medal in front of the crowd was one of the most amazing moments I’ve had as a golfer”.

There were many others in contention during a back nine where the leaderboard seemed to be ever-changing. Rory McIlroy pushed for a medal with five consecutive birdies to start the back nine, but a double bogey on the 15th hole ended his chances. Jon Rahm was four shots ahead through 10 holes, but played the last 8 holes in 5-over to drop out of contention. Xander Schauffele went into the final day in a tie for the lead with Rahm but a 3-over 73 on Sunday left him seven back from the winner.

Scheffler emerged from the pack with a 29 on the back nine to take gold: “It was just very emotional being up there on stage as the flag is being raised and singing the National Anthem. Yes, that's definitely one I'll remember for a long time.”

It was true drama, fueled by pure passion for your country. More on that below.

From Obscurity to Olympic Glory: The True Spirit of Sport Shines Amidst Golf's Greed

I love the Olympics. While the world fawns about sporting superstars on a day-to-day basis, most Olympic athletes train their entire lives in relative obscurity without much financial return to get a shot at an Olympic medal. Three weeks ago, I had never heard of Dan Wiffen. When he stepped up on the Olympic podium to receive Ireland’s first (sorry Michelle Smith) legitimate swimming gold medal, he realized a lifelong dream, one he had worked for thousands of hours to achieve. I was immensely proud of him, just because we’re both from the same island on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean.

Golf doesn’t really fit that mould. Despite the sport having a long and storied history, it has been disrupted recently by greed and power. Players seem to be more worried about whether they will make 100 million or 10 million over the next few years than they do about their legacy and the future of the game they are supposed to love. However, the Olympics was a brief but welcome diversion from that trend.

The players fought for the flag on their shirt and tried to win their country a gold medal for pride, and pride alone. The crowd was electric, and the players fed off that energy to produce an incredible finish. It was the first tournament in a very long time other than the Ryder Cup where there was a clear connection between the crowd and the players. It was almost as if the people felt at one with their golfing representatives because they were playing for them and not for money or prestige. It produced some scenes we won’t see the likes of again until players play for their people once again at the Ryder Cup in Bethpage Black next year.

French fans were singing the national anthem on almost every hole as their hero Victor Perez made a late push for a medal that just fell short. Scottie Scheffler shed tears as he sung the national anthem during the medal ceremony. It was real. It felt real.

Jon Rahm’s post-round comments summed it up perfectly: “I don't remember the last time I played a tournament and I felt like 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.”

Bring on Riviera Country Club in LA in 2028.

Other Results and News:

• 🇫🇷 Victor Perez shot a final round 63 to finish in 4th place at his home Olympics

  • As mentioned above, the scenes were incredible as he played holes 12 to 16 in 6-under, prompting a wonderful send off from the French crowd on the 18th green

• 🇺🇸 After being named as the Ryder Cup captain, Keegan Bradley will also be an assistant at the President’s Cup in Montreal in September

  • The President's cup is a team competition similar to the Ryder Cup that takes place between the US and a Rest of World team made up of players from outside Europe

Coming up this week on Tour

• The Women’s Olympic golf tournament begins in Le Golf National on Wednesday. I am really looking forward to watching it unfold.

• The PGA Tour resumes with the Wyndham Championship

  • This is the last week players can make the top 70 of the FedEx Cup rankings to get into the playoffs which begin the following week in Memphis

If you have any feedback for the newsletter or would like to get in touch, I would love to hear from you! Email [email protected] or message us on Twitter/X at @BlueHorizonGolf. Thank you for reading!