Welcome back to the Monday Finish, where we just watched 18 hours of golf and 10 seconds of sprinting and they gave out a gold medal for each one.
Maybe we picked the wrong sport to cover. Anyway — to the golf news!
As Scottie Scheffler came off the 18th green at Le Golf National on Sunday, just seconds after putting the finishing touches on a preposterous, jaw-dropping, awe-inspiring,
gold-medal-winning 9-under 62, he did something interesting and extremely Scheffler:
he slung his arm around his playing partner, Tom Kim, and leaned in to offer consolation and counsel.
It’s fairly common for a winning athlete to shake the hand of his vanquished opponents; that’s one of the great things about sports.
But this was different. This was the about-to-be gold medalist having the humility and presence of mind to redirect his focus to a buddy clearly in need of some love. (When cameras cut to the group signing scorecards, Kim was bawling.
“Never been really emotional after a round,” Kim said a little while later, reflecting on his week. “I think these emotions are surprising but I think it’s just all the hard work I’ve done this year to put myself in this position — those things are coming out.”
From the outside it was almost too easy to connect the emotional reaction to the compelling storyline that had followed Kim all week. South Korean golfers who medal at the Olympic Games (or win gold at the Asian Games) receive an exemption from the multi-year military service required of every able-bodied male, which means the tournament’s high stakes are further heightened still. Reporters are (understandably) interested in stories like this, but Kim (understandably) didn’t want to talk much about it, so all week he did his best to downplay the specifics of the exemption. Next to the already significant mental load of trying to win a giant tournament against the best players in the world, talking about the exemption while avoiding thinking or saying the wrong thing about it seemed like a noticeably bad idea.
But Kim is tough and he’s talented, so he started Sunday’s final round tied with Scheffler at 10 under par. He actually beat Scheffler on the front nine, making four birdies to get to 14 under and vaulting within shouting distance of a bronze medal. But a missed three-foot par at No. 11 marked the beginning of the end; he made two birdies coming home but that wasn’t quite enough. He arrived at the par-4 18th needing a miracle eagle for a chance. He found the water with his tee shot, he missed an eight-footer for bogey and walked off with 6 instead. That’s when Scottie stepped in. And that’s when the emotions began to come out.
“Just the things Scottie said to me after the round, it really kind of came out, and I’m just trying to hold it together,” Kim said.
He declined to share specifics — “it’s more a private conversation, just grateful for the friendship” — but it was clearly meaningful.
“[Scheffler] understands what I’ve gone through. Just those things — for a friend to say something like that after what he did, it means a lot.”
Kim did open up a bit on the toll his year has taken.
“I was struggling earlier this year and I really wanted to make the Olympics,” he said. He wrapped that up in June, edging out countrymen Sungjae Im and Si Woo Kim for the honor of representing his country by virtue of world ranking.
“Once that decision was made, it was almost like a huge burden came off my shoulders,” he said. “And then performing at the Olympics came on, and these last two weeks have been brutal trying to prepare, and just staying ahead. Then once the round finishes, everything is done and done. I think the emotions that I’ve held in this year are coming out.”
Kim’s accolades back up his standards; late last year he became the youngest golfer since Tiger Woods to win three times on the PGA Tour. But 2024 wasn’t as kind; it wasn’t until his 16th start of the season that he cracked the top 15 in a tournament. Scheffler, Kim’s friend and frequent Dallas sparring partner, had already won a half-dozen times by then. In recent weeks Kim contended a couple times, finishing T4 at the Canadian Open and losing to Scheffler in a playoff at the Travelers. But it wasn’t until this one that he broke down, even if he insisted he wasn’t thinking about the exemption.
“Not at all,” he said. “I wasn’t really thinking about that at all. Just trying to make a medal for my country and not myself.”
In other words, there’s a lot these guys have on the line when they play. Money. Points. Status. Joy. Pride. But, at least for this week, there was still room to think of others. Kim showed that. Scheffler did, too.
WINNERS
Who won the week?
Scottie Scheffler won Olympic gold, adding the medal to an already absurd season haul that now includes the Players, the Masters, four Signature Events, a massive lead as World No. 1 and the birth of his son Bennett. (He got roughly $38,000, too.)
Moriya Jutanugarn won the Portland Classic, making seven Sunday birdies in a round of 66 to claim her third career LPGA title and first since 2021.
Olympic golf also won. Think of the four pre-tournament favorites — arguably the four best golfers on the planet (Bryson DeChambeau would like a word, though) — and think of Sunday, when Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm each had chances to win, accompanied on the leaderboard by a local favorite, Frenchman Victor Perez, as well as top-tier talents Tommy Fleetwood and Hideki Matsuyama. Blue-chippers showed up and put on a show for the world that was truly the best tournament golf has to offer.
NOT-WINNERS
If you’re not third, you’re last.
Le Golf National dished plenty of disappointment, but Jon Rahm felt the worst of it. The former World No. 1 roared out to a hot start Sunday; by the time he’d made his sixth birdie at No. 10 he opened up a three-stroke lead. But he missed a short par putt at No. 11, made another bogey at No. 12 and added a disastrous double at the par-5 14th. By the time he made bogey at No. 18 he was T5, two strokes outside the medals. Tally up the strokes it took Rahm to play holes 11-18 and you get 36. Scheffler played those same holes in just 26 strokes. That’s an insane pendulum swing — but then, it was an insane, glorious day of high-stakes golf.
After the round, Rahm admitted just how much the finish hurt.
“I not only feel like I let myself down but to just not get it done for the whole country of Spain, it’s a lot more painful than I would like it to be,” he said. “I’ve gotten the question, where this tournament would rank in my opinion or what I would think it would feel like to win, and I think by losing today, I’m getting a much deeper appreciation of what this tournament means to me than if I had won any medal, right.
“I’m getting a taste of how much it really mattered. I’ve been very honored to represent Spain in many, many different events, and to not get this one done stings quite a bit.”
Other notable non-winners: Victor Perez and his epic Sunday 63, Tommy Fleetwood‘s bouncebackability and his silver medal, Hideki Matsuyama‘s well-earned bronze, Rory McIlroy‘s first 14 holes, Wyndham Clark‘s last 68 holes.
SHORT HITTERS
Exit interviews from Olympians, in brief.
Tommy Fleetwood (silver medalist): “You know, I’m still unbelievably proud and happy with the way the week went. I was proud of the way I played today. And yeah, I enjoyed it so much. I take that away from it. This was an incredible atmosphere to play in front of this week and to be a part of.”
Hideki Matsuyama (bronze medalist): “In Tokyo I tried my best to get this, but fell short, so I’m really happy I was able to make it happen this time.”
Victor Perez (fourth place, low Frenchman, leading cheer-getter): “This amphitheater at the end created an atmosphere that we don’t get to experience that often, that stadium-like atmosphere which I think we all enjoy but we don’t get often in golf.”
Rory McIlroy (T5): “I still think that the Ryder Cup is the best tournament that we have in our game, pure competition, and I think this has the potential to be right up there with it. I think with how much of a s—show the game of golf is right now and you think about the two tournaments that might be the purest form of competition in our sport, we don’t play for money in it.”
Xander Schauffele (held 54-hole co-lead, finished T9): “I had about two-and-a-half hours of really good fun and about two-and-a-half hours of ‘What the hell am I doing out here?’”
From Scottie Scheffler on frustration, patience and caddie Ted Scott:
“I felt like at times this week I got more frustrated than I normally do. It was a pretty challenging week there for a while just because I felt like I was doing a lot of things well and I wasn’t getting a lot out of it at times. You know, just watching great players fly up the leaderboard and I feel like they are getting further and further away from me at times.
“Once again, I always go back to Teddy because he does a really good job of making sure that I’m in the right head space to where I can stay there and be committed to the shot. At times in my career, I’ve let a bad shot affect the next shot, and Teddy has done a really great job of helping me stay in the right head space and making sure that I don’t let that happen.”
ONE BIG QUESTION
What will Nelly do?
For several months Nelly Korda was on a historic tear through the LPGA Tour, winning six times in seven starts including a major championship. Then she she made a 10 on a par-3 a few holes into the U.S. Women’s Open and missed the cut. Then she missed her next cut. Then she was in contention at the KPMG Women’s PGA through one round before a strange everything-went-wrong Friday 81. Then she missed time with an injury from a dog bite. It was the best of times, and then, well, you know the rest.
Now Korda arrives in Paris as the reigning Olympic gold medalist. But which version will show up at Le Golf National? The winner who could do no wrong? Or the player who can’t seem to catch a break? We’re eager to find the answer.
Scottie on the podium.
It’s at exactly the one minute, eight-second mark here where Scheffler goes from “I’m good, this is cool” to “I’m watching Wilson the volleyball drift away from Tom Hanks‘ raft in Castaway.” Waterworks. A good, proper cry. Well earned, Scottie.
NEWS FROM SEATTLE
Monday Finish HQ.
I started my week with a quick trip over the Oregon border to conduct a couple interviews at the Portland Classic. One thing coming your way this week: a chat with Lauren Coughlin, the LPGA’s newest first-time winner and a near-lock to represent the U.S. team in her home state of Virginia at the Solheim Cup next month. Popular winner. Thoughtful. Likable. Good for any team room.
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Source: USA Today
