Fleetwood revels in Olympic silver despite disappointment after Scheffler rally

By Sports Desk August 04, 2024

Tommy Fleetwood put disappointment to one side after achieving an Olympics dream with a silver medal in Paris.

Great Britain's Fleetwood finished 18-under at the Games, one shot short of Scottie Scheffler, who secured the United States' second straight gold in this event.

Fleetwood fell out of the lead with a bogey from the rough on the 17th but got up and down for par on the final hole for a 66 to seal second place, ahead of Japan's bronze medallist Hideki Matsuyama.

"There's part of me that's disappointed, of course, but at the same time I never dreamt I would be an Olympic medallist," Fleetwood said after the conclusion on Sunday.

"I haven't been in the mix that much recently and being back there, playing well and feeling how that felt again, I enjoyed it so much and I'm unbelievably proud to be an Olympic medallist.

"It feels unbelievably special and I know I didn't win gold, a very good golfer did, but standing on that podium with a medal was one of the most amazing moments I've had as a golfer.

"I'll remember those times for the rest of my life."

Jon Rahm had led for large parts, with four shots over Fleetwood when he stepped up to the tee on the 11th, only for the Spaniard to collapse in remarkable fashion.

Scheffler charged to the front with four straight birdies down the stretch, making an 18-foot birdie putt to take the lead for the first time all day with just one hole remaining.

In doing so, victorious world number one Scheffler set an Olympic record for 72 holes with his 19-under 265 at Le Golf National.

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  • 'I'll remember it for a long time' - Emotional Scheffler revels in Olympic gold medal win 'I'll remember it for a long time' - Emotional Scheffler revels in Olympic gold medal win

    An emotional Scottie Scheffler says he will remember his gold medal win "for a long time" having come from behind with a record-equalling final round to win at the Olympics.

    The American started four strokes behind co-leaders Jon Rahm and Xander Schauffele on Sunday but produced a superb nine-under 62 to pip Great Britain's Tommy Fleetwood to the top of the leaderboard by one stroke as he finished on 19 under at Le Golf National.

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    Scheffler was emotional on the podium and expressed his pride at being able to add another gold medal to the United States' medal tally at the Paris Games.

    "I get emotional in general. Usually, I have a bit more time after a tournament to kind of reflect and compose myself, but with this one, you kind of go from one thing to the next," Scheffler told NBC.

    "You don't really reflect until you're standing up there on the podium. That was a pretty special moment I'll remember for a long time: standing up there on the podium with the gold medal around my neck.

    "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."

    Despite his impressive score, it did not always look like Scheffler would have a chance of finishing on the podium, with Rahm pulling ahead, only to suffer a collapse on the back nine to slip out of contention.

    The 28-year-old made six birdies on the back nine, including four in a row after a slightly slow start on the first half of the course.

    "I felt good most of the day," Scheffler added. "I felt like I was doing a lot of good things, and the front nine, I hit a bit of a cold stretch on 4 through 9 where I wasn't able to make any birdies; and I felt like I had what was a lot of good putts and felt like what I felt was good putts and didn't go in.

    "[Caddie] Teddy [Scott] did a really good job of helping me stay patient out there, and did a good job of reading the greens, as well, and we were able to get hot there on the back nine and move our way up the leaderboard."

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