What a start for Olympic golf in Paris. Scottie Scheffler’s sparkling, course-record 62 on Sunday was enough to win gold, capping off a fantastic weekend of play and adding yet another accomplishment to what has been an otherworldly year for him.

Scheffler carded a 62 on Sunday, including a 29 on the back to set the scoring record at Le Golf National. His birdie on 17, poured in from a fair distance, was the kind of moment that has slammed doors on competition all year for Scottie.

That was enough to hold off Tommy Fleetwood, who played in the final group, shot 66, and still came up just one shot shy.

The good news for Fleetwood: second place at the Olympics is still a meaningful result. Not to mention it’s a finishing position with its own rich history:

Hideki Matsuyama, part of the massive bronze medal playoff back in 2021 in Japan, ended up solo third this year to complete the podium.

In terms of big-picture takeaways, it’s hard to view it through any prism other than what it means for Scottie’s 2024 resume.

Think of it this way: Scottie won the green jacket in April and a gold medal in August. On their own, those two victories would make for a year to remember. And yet you could make an argument that for Scheffler, you could REMOVE those two wins and what’s left over (wins at the Players, Bay Hill, Harbour Town, the Memorial, and the Travelers) would still be a career year for just about any player ever. It’s sincerely hard to contextualize.

Whether he can carry that momentum from the Olympics to an even bigger stage of athletic competition (the FedEx Cup playoff crucible) remains to be seen. Regardless, we can’t understate how crazy this year has been for Scheffler. As we saw on Sunday at Le Golf National, if Scottie is making putts, the rest of the field is usually playing for second.

Meanwhile, we’re not done with Olympic golf! The women’s competition gets underway on Wednesday. Given how fun this weekend was, yes, by all means, give us more.


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