Scheffler nets Paris men’s golf gold with late charge, Indians fade away

Scottie Scheffler matched the course record on his way to winning the men’s Olympic gold medal with a fabulous display in Paris on Sunday.

The world number one started Sunday four shots behind the joint overnight leaders, fellow-American and defending champion Xander Schauffele and Jon Rahm of Spain before taking the outright lead with one hole left to set the clubhouse target of 18 under par 265.

His closest chasers, England’s Tommy Fleetwood of England and Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama faltered under the pressure of the target, committing errors that saw them finish second and third.

Scheffler underlined his class late into the round, driving into the rough twice in succession at Le Golf National which drew massive and appreciative 30,000-plus strong crowds before recovering to nail birdies on both holes 16 and 17.

The second was the clincher as it put the 28-year-old alongside the popular Fleetwood, playing two groups behind. Scheffler then closed out with a tap-in for par for a bogey-free 62 that equalled the course record.
Fleetwood dropped a shot on his penultimate hole to fall back and left himself too much to do on the 18th that could have taken him into a playoff against Scheffler, finishing on 18 under 266 for the silver medal while Matsuyama took the bronze with a 17 under 267.

It was one better than Matsuyama’s finish on home soil three years ago when he missed a medal in a seven-strong playoff in Tokyo.

“It's been a long week, it's been a challenging week. I played some great golf today and I'm proud to be going home with a medal,” Scheffler told reporters later. “I’m pretty tired at the moment, but it was a lot of fun being out here competing.”

The Paris golf medal came in addition to his six wins on tour that included the Masters early in the season.
For India, it was a disappointing run by Shubhankar Sharma and Gaganjeet Bhullar. Neither was in contention at any stage in a high-quality field that witnessed a dazzling battle for the three podium places.
Shubhankar finally took a share of 40th place on 1 under 283 with rounds of 70, 69, 72 and 72 while Bhullar was T45 on 1 over 285 (75-69-71-70).

Fleetwood had massive support on the home stretch, the huge crowd having shifted allegiances after home favourite Victor Perez finished earlier with an 8 under 63 and total 16 under 268 for sole possession of fourth place.

The Englishman was a key member of the victorious Europe team in the 2018 Ryder Cup also played at Le Golf National where the hosts convincingly beat the US and he was cheered on like a  home player. “I think golf showcased itself amazingly well this week,” the 33-year-old, who closed with a battling 66, said.

 
“Part of me is disappointed, of course, but at the same time I never dreamed I'd be an Olympic medallist. I'm still unbelievably proud and happy of the way the week went. I'm proud of the way I played today,” the Englishman added.

“As a young boy taking up the game of golf, none of us had a chance to win Olympic gold so it was never on our agenda,” Fleetwood was quoted as saying. “That quickly changes when you're part of the Olympics and it feels unbelievably special. Standing on that podium with a medal was one of the most amazing moments I've had as a golfer.”

Scheffler's bogey-free run saw him haul in overnight leaders Schauffele and Rahm, who led by four shots after the front nine before imploding on the closing stretch and giving way four shots in a traumatising five-hole stretch that included two bogeys and a double.

“To just not get it done for the whole country of Spain, it's a lot more painful,” Rahm, was tied fifth alongside Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland on 15 under 269, said.

Fleetwood was in contention till he bogeyed hole 17 to fall behind Scheffler and no time or space to recover from that error. For Perez, who had the honour of opening the tournament on Thursday, it was a case of almost but not quite there as he too could have been in contention but only managed pars on the final two holes.

The event was also a ringing endorsement of golf’s return to the Olympics, the Rio Games failing to draw a quality field in 2016 and the Tokyo Games played in Covid isolation, The huge numbers that thronged the Guyancourt venue left no doubts about the popularity of the competition that had the world’s best finishing inside the top 10.