It was a star-spangled family affair as world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler captured his seventh win of the season, the 13th of his career and first gold medal Sunday at the men’s Olympic golf competition outside of Paris.
With wife Meredith, 3-month-old son Bennett, parents Scott and Diane, and in-laws on hand at Le Golf National, the seemingly unflappable Scheffler openly wept as he stood on the top of podium with his newest piece of hardware – the unmistakable glint of gold flashing in the bright sunshine as “The Star-Spangled Banner” played in the background.
“When you go to a sporting event, you hear everybody in the stands singing the national anthem, it’s a pretty special thing to be a part of, and I think that’s something we take tremendous pride in,” he said of his emotions on the medal stand. “It was just very emotional being up there on stage there as the flag is being raised and sitting there singing the national anthem. Yes, that’s definitely one I’ll remember for a long time.”
On hand to wish him congratulations were U.S. teammates Collin Morikawa and Wyndham Clark, who finished T14 and T24, respectively. Clark made his way to the 18th green to watch the soon-to-be Olympic champ finish his remarkable 62, a flawless 9-under exhibition of skill that matched the course record and vaulted him from four shots back to one shot clear of the field.
Also among the first to congratulate Scheffler was world No. 3 Rory McIlroy, representing Team Ireland, who suffered another near miss of the podium but stopped to squeeze young Bennett, noting: “You’re going to get to chew on a gold medal soon.”
Adding to the scene were the energetic and international crowds that swelled to a sell-out number of 30,000 on Sunday, adding a raucous energy to the day.
“I was pretty surprised the first day by just how big (the crowds) were,” he added. “It was great, you know, hearing the cheers. The way they supported the French players this week was pretty unbelievable. Some of the guys were talking about the French players almost getting the Tiger treatment out there, getting chants and cheering for them every hole. It was great to be part of this event.”
Scheffler was sure to give credit to his reliable wingman and caddie Ted Scott, whom he relied on more than usual throughout the week after admitting he found himself “distracted” on Friday. He asked Scott to help him read greens starting on the back nine during the second round, and he credited Scott for getting him into the right mindset for the rest of the week.
“I felt like at times this week I got more frustrated than I normally do,” Scheffler said. “It was a pretty challenging week there for a while, just because I felt like I was doing a lot of things well and I wasn’t getting a lot out of it at times. You know, just watching great players fly up the leaderboard and I feel like they are getting further and further away from me at times.
“Once again, I always go back to Teddy because he does a really good job of making sure that I’m in the right headspace to where I can stay there and be committed to the shot. At times in my career, I’ve let a bad shot affect the next shot, and Teddy has done a really great job … of making sure that I don’t let that happen.”
After opening with three straight birdies, Scheffler seemingly lost momentum with six straight pars to turn in 33. But the tide began to turn with birdies at 10 and 12, and he pointed to a par at 13 as a pivotal moment en route to gold.
“I think the par putt I holed on 13 was really important,” he noted. “Just keeping the momentum in the round. Keeping the card clean. That was a hole where I had a good chance to make birdie, and all of a sudden, I’m in a tough place after getting overaggressive with a wedge shot. … There was a good leaderboard that I saw on the back of 16. I knew I was close, and I felt like if I could make a couple more birdies, I could make something happen and was fortunate to be able to do that.”
As for where the Olympic medal ranks among his accomplishments, Scheffler wouldn’t say, although he did reveal that it was as emotional as his second green jacket earlier this season when he took a “bathroom break,” but really just had a good cry.
“I just wanted to be by myself for a minute. I cried pretty good after that one,” he said. “It’s emotional sitting there on the podium and hearing your national anthem, it really is. 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.”
Source: PGATour.com
