SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France — When gathering a select group of elite players and dismissing approximately half of the participants who do not have realistic chances of winning, one might think it concerns a LIV Golf event. However, this is the Olympics, featuring 60 players from over 30 countries, many of whom seldom compete on a grand stage, and none of them are receiving payment. Singapore made its debut in the women’s competition with Shannon Tan, and Switzerland introduced its first participant, Joel Girrbach, in the men’s event.
This may partially explain why golf at the Olympics continues to produce big stars on the podium, paired with compelling stories. Paris was no exception. Scottie Scheffler set the tone for the two-week tournament with an impressive comeback, while Jon Rahm experienced a dramatic collapse. Scheffler was four strokes behind before the final round and still six strokes behind at the 12th hole. However, he astonished everyone with a 9-under 62, which earned him the Olympic gold medal and added another triumph to an already outstanding year.
Xander Schauffele, the gold medalist from Tokyo, has also had an exceptional season with titles at the PGA Championship and the British Open. He was tied for the lead after 54 holes with Rahm and stated that “the cherry on top wouldn’t be fair” if he won another gold. “Scottie will probably get 14 cherries on top of his cake,” Schauffele remarked.
It has been a spectacular year. The best season in women’s golf belongs to Nelly Korda, who has achieved five consecutive victories (including one major) and six titles in seven starts. However, this Olympic event primarily centered around Lydia Ko from New Zealand. She shared that since her medal wins in Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo, she has not seen her medals. Ko expressed that if she won gold, she would need her other medals back.
Ko’s journey back home to Florida will likely include a stop in South Korea. “I think I need to find a good place to collect them,” she said on Tuesday. Her performance was at a peak level, and the timing could not have been better. Ko, who is set to marry at the end of the year, had considered retirement but decided this would be her last Olympics. She needed one more victory to secure a place in the LPGA Hall of Fame.
Similar to the men’s competition, there was a mix of mistakes (Korda, Morgane Metraux, Miyu Yamashita, Rose Zhang) and clutch play (Ko). Ko made a birdie putt from 13 meters on the seventh hole, building a five-shot lead before having to fight to win by two strokes.
She then headed to Scotland and did not get her first good night of sleep until Sunday night. “I woke up thinking, ‘Was that a dream? Did that really happen?’ It was incredibly exciting,” she said at the Women’s Scottish Open. “I am just very grateful for this remarkable opportunity.”
Golf has already produced gold medal winners who are proving their place in the Hall of Fame, including Park and Ko. Scheffler is likely to remain at the top spot longer than Tiger Woods did. Rose is a former world number one, and Schauffele is finally starting to receive the recognition he deserves. There should no longer be any doubt that golf belongs in the Olympics, even though it differs from other sports.
With the next Olympics set to be held in Los Angeles in 2028, what will Riviera bring to the golf world?