Scottie Scheffler surges past field with incredible late charge to win Olympic gold

Scottie Scheffler has won the gold medal in men’s individual golf at the 2024 Paris Olympics. That came on the back of a massive performance Sunday when he shot a -9, which tied the course record. That put him at -19 for the Olympics and brought home the gold.

It was an incredible late charge and comeback for Scheffler to win the gold. He came into play on Sunday four shots out of the lead and heading into the back nine, he needed to surge past a crowded field to even make it to the podium. That included hitting four birdies in a row at one point on the back nine.

Also making the podium were Tommy Fleetwood of Great Britain who shot -18 for silver, and Hideki Matsuyama of Japan who shot a -17 for bronze.

Golf at the Olympics was played at Le Golf National in Guyancourt, which is outside of the city of Paris. 120 players were involved in the Olympic tournament there. It also acted as the host course for the 2018 Ryder Cup.

For much of Sunday, Jon Rahm was at the top of the pack. Behind him, there was a large group who were racing for that podium position. Tommy Fleetwood, Hideki Matsuyama, and Xander Schauffele spent most of the day battling. That group also found itself getting pushed on the back nine by Scottie Scheffler, Victor Perez, and Rory McIlroy among others.

Rahm came into Sunday with a score of -14. He got that number to -20 at one point on the back nine before running into some trouble, taking a bogey and driving into the sand, which became back-to-back bogies. It turned out that was only the start of his issues on the back nine. That’s when he started to get pushed by Fleetwood and Matsuyama, in particular. Around that same time, Schauffele had his own struggles and dropped in the race.

For his part, Scheffler proved why he’s considered the best golfer in the world on the back nine at Le Golf National, putting on a show with several birdies to get back on the podium and into position to win gold. Still, when Scheffler walked off the course after the 18th hole, he was tied for gold with Fleetwood who still had two holes. However, a bogey on the 17th put his back against the wall and he wasn’t able to force a playoff for gold on the final hole.

Women’s golf at the Olympics is set to begin with round one on August 7th. It will also be played at Le Golf National.