Scottie Scheffler is unequivocally the best golfer in the world right now. He’s also taken the reigns of the title “Captain America” with his gold medal performance at the Olympics this week.
This year has been one of the most dominating years professional golf has seen. Scottie Scheffler has made 16 starts on the PGA Tour this year, which includes the majors. He’s made the cut all 16 times. His worst finish is T-41 at the U.S. Open, which is the only time he’s finished outside the top 20 this year. He has six wins this season including winning his second Masters in three years. And this week, he added a gold medal to his immaculate season.
Ever since The Open, the discourse was, “Who is the Player of the Year?” The argument was between Xander Schauffele, who has won two majors this year, a feat that hasn’t happened in nine years but nothing else on the PGA Tour, and Scheffler. For three rounds at Le Golf National, it appeared Schauffele might get the upper hand, especially if he were to win his second straight gold medal. However, Sunday in Paris, that question would be answered.
In the first three rounds, Scheffler’s putter was once again his flaw. According to Data Golf, Scheffler has gained over one stroke putting in an event just one time. That was his win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational that kickstarted a streak of winning four of five tournaments he started in, where only one player beat him in that monthlong stretch of golf. Scheffler’s putting was so bad in the second round, that it ranked 54th out of 60 players. In the third round he bounced back, but in the final round when he needed it most, the putter did anything but let him down.
Scheffler erupted with three birdies in his first three holes to begin the final round, where he started the day four back of the leaders who were at 14-under. His chip-in at the second hole was a warning shot to the field, reminiscent of Omar Little. After six straight pars to cruise to a three-under 33 on the front, Scheffler turned up the heat with birdies on 10 and 12, while Jon Rahm of Spain, who put the green jacket on Scheffler in April, began a collapse that encapsulated Rahm’s cursed season.
Rahm was at 20-under after his sixth birdie on the day, coming at the par four, 10th hole before he bogeyed 11, 12, 17, and 18 and doubled the 14th hole, which was the easiest hole on the back nine in the final round. Rahm made the jump to LIV Golf this past winter after Rahm was outspoken about loyalty to the Tour, and a really good season in 2023. Rahm won The Masters in April, was part of the Ryder Cup win in Italy later in the fall, and had a T-10 finish at the U.S. Open and T-2 at The Open.
Things seemingly changed for Rahm after the infamous June 6 CNBC interview with PGA Tour commissioner, Jay Monahan and Governor of the PIF Yassir Al-Rumayyan. In fairness to Rahm, Jay Monahan went behind the players’ backs to broker a framework agreement with LIV Golf without any of the players knowing, which rightfully irked many players, as the commissioner of the PGA Tour is supposed to represent the players, not make decisions on their behalf without consulting a single PGA Tour player. Rahm made the news official this past December, and the rumors have swirled about how big his nine-figure contract would be. On LIV, Rahm has had a pretty good year and was coming off of a win at LIV UK last weekend.
However, this day was about Scheffler, who rattled off four straight birdies on 14, 15, 16, and 17 to tie Great Britain’s Tommy Fleetwood at 19-under. Scheffler had to settle for par on the 72nd hole to fire a six-under 29 for a final round, nine-under 62. Fleetwood birdied the 16th hole to tie Scheffler at 19-under before bogeying 17 and needed to chip in from behind the green to send him and Scheffler into a playoff. Fleetwood hit a really good chip but it raced by the hole, giving Scheffler his first Olympic gold medal.
Scheffler is a pretty stoic person. His answers in press conferences and post-round interviews don’t offer much. He doesn’t give vociferous fist pumps or belch out screams after making a big putt. On the highest rung of the podium, with the gold medal around his neck, in his blue tracksuit, with his right hand on his heart, Scheffler’s emotion couldn’t resist anymore.
It’s a moment that might cement Olympic Golf into the stratosphere of the majors. Scheffler, with his wife Meredith and infant Bennett looking on, couldn’t hold back tears as our national anthem concluded. Scheffler’s tears showed us that it doesn’t matter how much money any tour offers for their events. It doesn’t matter where on Earth you play your golf. It doesn’t matter what your world ranking is. It doesn’t matter what tournaments you’ve won before.
There’s nothing like representing and winning for your country.
The next Summer Olympics will be in Los Angeles, and the legendary Riviera Country Club will host the golf competition for the first time.
It’s hard to conceive a world where Scheffler isn’t competing in those Olympics for Team USA, and frankly, where he isn’t in the top five in the world with more majors added to his mantle.
Captain America’s schedule won’t be light in international competition either. Scheffler is a two-time participant in the Ryder Cup, highlighted by the 2021 Ryder Cup team that obliterated Team Europe in one of the most lopsided wins in Ryder Cup history. He also was on the 2022 President’s Cup team that took down the International team and is all but a lock for the 2024 team, where he’s first in points by over 4,000 points and is over 7,000 points clear of third. Next fall, when the Ryder Cup returns to the U.S., it’ll be at Bethpage Black in New York, where he will likely be an anchor for Team USA.
There were other great stories this week, such as Tommy Fleetwood grabbing the silver medal and will still be on the hunt for his first PGA Tour win. Hideki Matsuyama winning the bronze is another reminder that Matsuyama is still a threat to win the second major of his career. Victor Perez shot a dazzling 63 to finish one shot back of Matsuyama but made the French crowd burst into their national anthem with virtually every one of those 63 shots on Sunday.
The agony of defeat hit hard for Tom Kim. The young South Korean phenom, needed to win a medal to earn a military exemption. Kim was consoled by Scheffler on the 18th green after their round today and let tears of sadness flow in the scoring tent. At age 22, Kim will have only two opportunities to earn a military exemption. He will have those chances at the 2026 Asian Games where he must win gold, or the 2028 Olympics where he must medal otherwise, Kim will have to enlist by the time he turns 28. South Korea mandates that all able-bodied men between the ages of 18 and 35 must participate in 21 months of military service unless they earn an exemption. Imagine that suffocating pressure.
This is the third straight Olympics where golf has been played, and it has delivered every single time. Many players regurgitated the same message of how meaningful it is to play for their country.
The simplicity of the Olympics is what has thrust the competition into one of the most prestigious events in golf. Money, résumés, what tour you play on, friendships, rivalries, world rankings, and every other divisive subject doesn’t matter. All that matters is representing the country you came from, and the 60 players who get the honor of playing in the Olympics represent their nation profoundly.
For four days, the lucidness of Olympic golf dominated the game. It was refreshing to see the best in the world culminate for four memorable rounds of golf, not for money, but to be the best in the world, earn a medal, and make their country proud.
You can give the best golfers in the world all the money you want, but the most meaningful wins in the sport, don’t need any money.