Scottie Scheffler, the world’s top golfer, has been in outstanding form for months, securing six victories, including his second Masters title. Recently, however, he has been outshone by Xander Schauffele, who bested Scheffler in two major tournaments: the PGA Championship and The Open Championship. Despite this, Scheffler entered the Paris Games as the favorite to win gold, highlighting his status as the player to beat.
During the competition, Scheffler struggled with his putting initially and decided to let his caddie, Ted Scott, take over putt-reading duties midway through the second round. Although the leaders stayed just out of reach, with Scheffler trailing by four shots after Thursday and five after a while, he patiently awaited his opportunity. On Sunday, Jon Rahm, the dynamic Spanish golfer, surged ahead by making six birdies in the first ten holes, increasing his lead to four strokes over the field and five ahead of Scheffler. However, Rahm’s game took a sharp turn for the worse shortly after.
Rahm stumbled with a three-putt on the par-3 eleventh hole from 32 feet, followed by a miss on a ten-foot par save at the par-4 twelfth. On the par-5 fourteenth, Rahm couldn’t convert a simple bogey putt from four feet, resulting in a shocking four-hole stretch of four-over-par golf that saw him drop from a commanding lead to just a single shot above the podium.
“I’ve been saying all week that I would know how much this means when the tournament was over,” Rahm reflected after his disappointing finish. “Sometimes you know when you win, but you definitely know when you don’t win it, and this just stings on a different emotional level. It hurts right now more than I expected. It’s hard to let my country down in that way; I had it under control and just let it go.”