'One of the biggest collapses, chokes of the year': Golf stunned by Rahm's Olympic disaster
Scottie Scheffler was a model of calm and greatness as he delivered the greatest closing round of his career. The final two hours were about charges and collapses, pure theatre that ended with the Olympic gold medal fittingly draped around the neck of golf's No.1 men's player.
It was only when Scheffler stood on the top podium, when the final few bars of the national anthem belted out across Le Golf National, that he lost control.
The medal dangling beneath his right hand fixed across his chest, Scheffler raised his left arm to cover the sobs.
READ MORE: Gold by .005 of a second for Lyles in bonkers photo finish
READ MORE: America reigns over pool as Aussies fall short in last swim
READ MORE: Fox sisters embrace as Jess' bid for triple Paris gold ends
Tears are nothing new for Scheffler. His latest trophy brought out his very best.
Four shots behind to start the final round, six shots behind early on the back nine, Scheffler birdied five of six holes down the stretch and matched the course record with a 9-under 62 for a one-shot victory over Tommy Fleetwood.
Gold medalist Scottie Scheffler of Team United States reacts on the podium. Getty
“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 said. “These guys played tremendous golf and I think we should all be proud of the golf that we played this week.”
It was a show-stopper, the best of the three men's competitions since golf returned to the Olympic program in 2016 before 30,000 spectators that got their euros' worth.
The remarkable surge by Scheffler, who shot 29 on the back nine. The relentless play of Fleetwood (66) and Hideki Matsuyama, who had birdie chances on the final six holes and had to settle for pars for a 65 to win the bronze.
And there was a stunning collapse by Jon Rahm, who saw a four-shot lead disappear in two holes and his hopes vanish with a double bogey; by Rory McIlroy, one shot behind until hitting wedge into the water; and by Xander Schauffele, the PGA and British Open champion who had a chance to win another gold until playing a four-hole stretch in 4-over par.
Watch every moment, every medal of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 live and free on Channel 9 and 9Now. Plus, every event streaming ad free, live and on demand with 4K on Stan Sport.
Australia's Jason Day did well to finish ninth on the leaderboard.
The collapse of Rahm - last year's Masters champion who stunned golf in December by defecting to LIV Golf for $900m when he had previously denounced the breakaway league - was stunning.
"I'm gonna put that down as one of the biggest collapses, chokes of the year. Right up there with Rory McIlroy at the US Open," veteran golf pundit - and outspoken LIV hater - Brandel Chamblee told CBS.
Jon Rahm of Team Spain reacts to blowing a four-shot lead. Getty
Rahm was clearly devastated.
"I've been saying all week that I would know how much this means when the tournament was over," the Spaniard said.
"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. Hurts right now more than I expected."
It was all such a blur that Scheffler didn't even know where he stood.
“I saw that Rahm had gotten to 20-under, and so I kind of changed a little bit mentally to just really try to do my best to move my way up the leaderboard, and at one point I didn’t even really know if I was in contention or not,” Scheffler said.
“I just tried to do my best to make some birdies and start moving up and maybe get a medal or something like that just because Jon is such a great player.”
When he finally got a look at a leaderboard behind the 16th green, Scheffler was in the fairway on the par-4 15th and hit wedge to a foot. That got him within one. Then came his tee shot to eight feet for birdie on the par-3 17th. And the winner turned out to be an 8-iron he gouged out of the rough to 18 feet for a fourth straight birdie and his first lead of the week.
“He's been piling up trophies left and right and he keeps moving away from what is the pack of people chasing him in the world,” Schauffele said. “When I take my competitive hat off and put my USA patriot hat on, I’m very happy that we won another gold medal.”
