Golf in the Olympics has come a long way in eight years, from the world’s best golfers treating it with indifference and skipping the 2016 Games in Brazil (Zika!) to the world’s best golfer crying on the podium in Paris when his national anthem played with a gold medal draped around his neck.
Scottie Scheffler had already delivered a season to remember in 2024, but his most indelible moment might be that image of him wiping away tears after shooting a 62 to rally and become the first world No. 1 men’s golfer to win gold.
On the women’s side, Lydia Ko did what Jon Rahm couldn’t and finished the drill after her big lead on the closing holes evaporated, completing her Medal Slam of gold (Paris), silver (Rio) and bronze (Tokyo) while clearing the last point hurdle required for LPGA Hall of Fame induction. It’s hard to believe she’s younger (27) than Scheffler (28).
It was a terrific show after the muted competition in Tokyo (COVID!) in front of engaged crowds in Paris – a performance golf desperately needed to secure its future in the games beyond Los Angeles in 2028. The two weeks in France left a lot to unpack:
GOLD: Le Golf National. The golf course proved to be a perfect theatrical venue for make-or-break competition – wet enough to invite scoring and watery enough to provoke disaster – and the fans who flocked to the course pushed the vibe over the top. This was exactly what golf needed to cement its place in the Olympics. As classic and spectacular as Riviera is, it has a tough act to follow in the 2028 L.A. Games.
GOLD/SILVER/BRONZE: Lydia Ko. The serial Olympic medalist was cruising comfortably with a five-shot lead and only six holes to play before she splashed an approach from 135 yards in the fairway on No. 13 to make double and raise the specter of Rahm’s ignominy. But nothing worth doing is ever easy, and Ko sweated out a lead that was trimmed to one shot and carefully slammed the door with a course-management birdie at the last.
THRILL OF VICTORY: Scottie Scheffler. It’s pretty tough to take a season like he’s having to another level, but darned if he didn’t do just that. Special stuff.
AGONY OF DEFEAT: Jon Rahm. The Spaniard had half of France to the right and he pulled his approach left into the rough on the par-5 14th hole, making double to cap a pretty shocking collapse to fall out of podium position after seemingly cruising to gold with a four-shot lead when he stepped to the 11th tee. Seeing how shattered he was revealed more than anything just how much the Olympics now mean to elite golfers. “Two of the most meaningful weeks in my career are two events where we make no money,” Rahm said.
BOGEY: NBC. Was the primary Olympics broadcast network aware that there was golf going on? While those who subscribe to Golf Channel or Peacock could fill their heart’s desire with live golf from 3 a.m. to noon EDT, the major terrestrial carrier completely ignored it save for about three minutes of post-event highlights including Scheffler’s emotional stand on the podium during the medal ceremony. Would it have killed them to show a few hours on weekend mornings when little beyond church or sleep was happening live?
EAGLE: Maríajo Uribe. The 2007 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion from Colombia never quite became an LPGA star after graduating from UCLA. But the 34-year-old mother set her sights on qualifying for her third straight Olympics – winning her first LET event in Australia in March to get there – and retire when it was over. She shared the lead in the third round and threatened to earn a walk-off medal before fading. But a walk-off eagle is pretty sweet. Well played.
HONORABLE MENTION: Victor Perez. The Frenchman didn’t stop the highlights with his Olympics opening tee shot. His late Sunday charge in front of frenzied French fans was electric. That he came up one birdie shy of the podium in no way diminished the spark his challenge generated. It’s too bad Hideki Matsuyama didn’t get that chance in front of partisan fans in Japan in 2021, but at least he got to take home a bronze this time.
BOGEY: Rose Zhang. Only 21 and the Stanford student already has a Solheim Cup and Olympics on her résumé. Her unquestionable skill was illustrated by her eagles on 14 and 18 Friday that vaulted her into podium position and the final grouping. The hazards of youth showed up with untidy pitches and poor club choices on water balls at 15 Friday and 9 Saturday that cost her doubles and a medal. She’ll be a favorite by 2028 at the Riv.
BIRDIE: Esther Henseleit and Morgane Metraux. For better or worse, the golf world now knows the names of the German and Swiss golfers. Henseleit charged from nowhere with a final-round 66 to earn silver and seemed content with that as she lounged about waiting for Ko to finish. Metraux, bless her heart, retreated from a share of the 54-hole lead with a dispiriting 79.
QUAD: Nelly Korda. The world No. 1 and defending gold medalist climbed into podium position in the second round before a gruesome quad 7 on the par-3 16th brought her crashing down. She fought pretty well to remain in medal contention until a final-round triple on 15. You can overcome three-putts, as she showed all week, but it’s darn hard to overcome multiple “others.”
BIRDIE: Céline Boutier. Already with a major victory in her native France at the 2023 Evian, she gave the host nation plenty of hope to add to the medal count and lifted expectations with a first-round 65 to open a quick three-shot lead. Alas, she couldn’t sustain it as a second-round 76 and damaging triple on 13 in the third round stung. But she kept fighting and kept the fans engaged.
BIRDIE: Tom Kim. The 22-year-old Korean made a spirited effort to win a medal, which would have exempted him from eventual mandatory military service in his native country. Kim broke down into tears when it was over, but it had nothing to do with what he’d missed but for what it meant for him to be there. He got to witness his best tour friend Scheffler be extraordinary for 18 holes Sunday, and their private words walking off made them both emotional.
BIRDIE: Money. Actually, it was the lack of money that made the Olympics so compelling. Technically, Ko gets $36,000 from High Performance New Zealand. Scheffler receives $38,000 from the U.S. Olympic Committee for winning gold – the same amount U.S. fencer Lee Kiefer, skeet shooter Vincent Hancock and fastest man in the world Noah Lyles get – but that’s the smallest performance check by miles he’s cashed since 2022. That gold medal, however, is priceless.
BOGEY: Rory McIlroy. Golf’s self-proclaimed “nearly man” notched another heartbreak when he rinsed his wedge on the 15th hole Sunday and sank his medal chances. But credit him, like Rahm, for speaking his heart and articulating just how evolved players’ feelings are toward the games. “I think with how much of a s—show the game of golf is right now and you think about the two tournaments [Ryder Cup and Olympics] that might be the purest form of competition in our sport, we don’t play for money in it.”
SILVER: Tommy Fleetwood. McIlroy’s term “nearly man” fits Fleetwood as well as anyone. He adds to his collection of silvers in both the U.S. and British Opens and top-five near misses in the Masters and PGA. He’ll always have the 2018 Ryder Cup and 2017 French Open wins at Le Golf National.
PAR: U-S-A. Not only have American men won back-to-back gold medals, but U.S. male golfers have medaled in every Olympics including 1900 (when Charles Sands also won gold) and 1904. The streak is alive only because of Matt Kuchar’s back-door bronze in Brazil. American women failed to medal for the second time in four Olympiads, but they have hoarded half the golds (Nelly Korda in 2021 and Margaret Abbott in 1900).
BOGEY: Xander Schauffele. He can be excused for running out of gas after collecting two major titles this year, but it was surprising to see him unable to feature on Sunday after sharing the 36- and 54-hole leads. The final-round reversal of fortunes for Schauffele and Scheffler likely stifled any brewing debate over who’ll be player of the year.
BIRDIE: Shane Lowry, Fabrizio Zanotti and Ines Laklalech. The Irish and Paraguayan men and Moroccan woman caught the full Olympic spirit as enthusiastic flag bearers on the Seine during the opening ceremony. It was Zanotti’s second time doing it. “It’s the greatest honor I’ve ever been given,” said Lowry, who owns a Claret Jug.
BOGEY: Johan Lindeberg. The marching band pants with the stripe down the legs that the U.S. men went out in was unfortunate. Why is a Swedish designer in charge of Team USA uniforms anyway? Get Peter Millar to handle it in L.A.
BOUNCEBACK BIRDIE: Wyndham Clark and Charley Hull. They immediately shot themselves out of the medal picture with 75 and 81, respectively. Yet both broke par each day the rest of the way to finish respectably. For Hull, her early troubles can be marked down to rust after recovering from a shoulder injury suffered in a shower slip before flying home after the KPMG Women’s PGA in June.
BOGEY: Individualism. As great as the show was in Paris, it’s stupefying that the Olympics hasn’t implemented a team element for golf. There’s discussion about adding a mixed event in 2028, but the easiest fix is to incorporate combined two-player team scores into the 72-hole stroke play, ensuring players out of individual medal consideration have something to keep playing for. While not accounting for motivation without it, a U.S. team of Scheffler-Collin Morikawa (25-under) would have tied Denmark combo of Nicolai Højgaard-Thorbjorn Olesen for gold, with Schauffele-Wyndham Clark third at 23-under. But Ireland (-20), Australia (-19), South Africa (-19) and South Korea (-19) all could have been vying for medals if it mattered. Women’s table: China (-11), Australia (-7) and Taiwan (-7).
BIRDIE: Rich Lerner. A staple on Golf Channel since 1997, Lerner stretched his broadcasting legs in the most prominent arena possible: gymnastics. Per his usual professionalism, Lerner stuck the landing with his play-by-play of Team USA winning the women’s all-around gold. As a staff writer on THE Gymnaverse forum wrote, Lerner “did his homework and came prepared!”
BIRDIE: Snoop Dogg. Who knew the 52-year-old rapper would be the perfect cheerleader and mascot on NBC for Team USA during the Olympics? Alas, Snoop didn’t show up for the golf like he did at the 2017 Masters – “Pimento cheese, fo shizzle,” he said of his choice over egg salad – but he did don a full equestrian kit and hang out at dressage with Martha Stewart. From crip-walking the Olympic torch, dancing with gymnasts Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles, swimming with Michael Phelps, running the 200 meters in 34.44 and hanging out with athletes’ families, he was worth every penny NBC paid him.
BOGEY: Morgan Pressel. Pretty certain that was an F-bomb Morgan dropped on air when she addressed how “fired up” Brooke Henderson was in the third round. Pressel pressed on without acknowledging it Friday, but a day later claimed she said nothing inappropriate but just stumbled over her words. All the quickly disabled clips on social media would suggest otherwise.
BOGEY: TV graphics. Golf Channel should know that RED means under par and GREEN means over par. Have they not ever seen the scoreboards at Augusta? This is a long established precedent. You don’t get to change the status quo just to be different for the Olympics, leaving golf fans confused every time a scorecard or player’s total popped up on screen. Stop it!
BIRDIE: Kerry Haigh. The PGA of America’s longtime chief championship officer applied his deft hand with his global team in setting up Le Golf National to provide a compelling show for the men and the women. The primary setup goal in events like this should be “do no harm” and let the course and the players do their dance.
BIRDIE: Aditi Ashok. India’s top female golfer was the only player to compete on the LPGA the week before in Portland and make the trek halfway around the world to Paris for the Wednesday women’s start. She was 1-under through 36 holes before any delayed jet lag caught up with a third-round 79 taking her out of the medal hunt.
59: Leona Maguire. Not that kind of 59. A lot more is expected from one of Europe’s best Solheim Cup players than rounds of 78-79-83-71 to wind up last among finishers. With just a month to go before the matches are staged in Virginia, Maguire is mired in a relative rut.
BIRDIE: Shannon Tan. At 20 years old, Tan is not only the first golfer from Singapore to qualify for the Olympics but was the youngest player in either field in the Paris Games. She soaked in the full experience, arriving 12 days early to participate in the opening ceremony and reconnect with her former Texas Tech schoolmate Ludvig Åberg in Paris.
BOGEY: Finland. Noora Komulainen (+28/WD) and Ursula Wikström (+19) did not produce the kind of Nordic combined results that Finns expect to see in the Olympics. Golf is not skiing. On a brighter side, Tapio Pulkkanen (T35) and Sami Valimaki (T45) fared somewhat better in the men’s event.
TRIPLE: Gymnastics judges. Let’s not hear another word about how screwed up some golf rules are. The gymnastics judges screwed up, but their error was pointed out 4 SECONDS too late (after 1-minute window) so they reinstated the error nearly a week later and deprived Jordan Chiles of her earned bronze. At least golf owns up to its mistakes.
GOLD: Paris. From the opening ceremony along the Seine to spectacular venues for fencing (Grand Palais), beach volleyball (Eiffel Tower), equestrian (Palace of Versailles), triathlon (Pont Alexandre III bridge) and more events that showcased landmarks all over the City of Light/Love, the French capital proved to be the most glorious and evocative host city in the world. When visiting again, it’s best to skip swimming in the Seine.