Golf Has Proved That it Belongs in The Olympic Games

View From The Fairway by Derek Clements

If Scottie Scheffler should go on to win the FedEx Cup he will end the season with prize money in excess of $50m - a vast some of money by anybody’s standards. Obscene, some would say.

But will anything give him greater pleasure or satisfaction than the gold medal-winning performance at Le Golf National as he succeeded fellow American Xander Schauffele as Olympic champion? I doubt it very much.

His joy was laid out for everybody to see, especially his reaction when he holed the birdie putt on the 71st green that took him one ahead of England’s Tommy Fleetwood. 

Rory McIlroy, whose own medal hopes ended when he found the water at the 15th, once described the Ryder Cup as an exhibition match - until he played in it for the first time. 

The Northern Irishman chose to give the 2016 Olympics in Rio a miss, citing fears over the Zika virus. He then said that he would be watching the track and field events but would be giving the golf a miss. His attitude changed after Justin Rose won gold for Great Britain and described it as his proudest moment in the sport - this from a former US Open champion and multiple Ryder Cup player.

McIlroy played in the golf tournament in Tokyo in 2021 and missed out on a bronze medal in a playoff. He later said he had never in his life worked so hard in an attempt to finish third.

McIlroy said after a final-round 66 in Paris that left him two shots shy of a playoff for bronze that this Olympics was "one of the best individual competitions I’ve been a part of." 

McIlroy has played in 63 majors.

"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," McIlroy said. "I think with how much of a sh*tshow 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. It speaks volumes for what’s important in sports and what’s important."

There are many who believe golf has no place in the Olympic Games. Or that if it is included then it should be restricted to amateur golfers.

I don’t agree. The track and field athletes we see fighting it out for the medals are all professional athletes. The world’s best tennis and basketball players are allowed to compete. So why not professional golfers?

And it has to be said that the men’s and women’s tournaments were of the highest quality. Le Golf National is a fabulous setting for professional golf, providing many natural viewing areas, and the crowds who turned up to watch the action were vast. The atmosphere they generated will live with the players who were lucky enough to experience it for the rest of their lives. There is something special about the Olympic Games.

The leaderboard in the men’s event would have graced any major, with Scheffler, Fleetwood and Hideki Matsuyama claiming the medals and being chased down by the likes of McIlroy and double major champion Schauffele.

These guys really wanted to be on the podium, thrilled at the opportunity to represent their countries at the world’s greatest sporting festival. Scheffler did not earn a penny for his victory, although you can be absolutely certain that his sponsors would have been delighted.

I really felt for Fleetwood. Le Golf National is a course that holds a very special place in his heart. He won the French Open there and formed an unbeaten partnership with Francesco Molinari when Europe thrashed the USA in the 2018 Ryder Cup. He is a fan favourite wherever he goes and the support for him was all the greater because of the horrific events that occurred in his hometown of Southport. For a while, it looked like victory was written in the stars for him. Fleetwood has developed an unfortunate habit of coming up short but like so many others in the Olympic field, he gave it everything he had and was absolutely thrilled to be on the podium.

There were also some special moments for the French fans as home favourite Victor Perez made a sensational charge on the final day and was cheered every inch of the way. Perez had a ball - and so did his supporters.

If you have any doubts about what winning a medal meant to these golfers then you only had to look at the reaction of Jon Rahm to missing out. Four shots clear at one point, the Spaniard faltered badly on the back nine - and he was utterly devastated when he walked off the final green. Remember that this is a man who is best-paid golfer on the planet after his switch to LIV Golf. But he wanted to win a gold medal as badly as he wants to add to his major collection.

This was how he summed it up: "I don’t remember the last time I played a tournament and I felt this. I don’t know what the word is because, you know, 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."

Like Rose, Schauffele was immensely proud of winning the gold medal in Tokyo in 2021 and he badly wanted to retain his title. Like Rahm, he was bitterly upset to miss out on the medals after a poor final round - one of the few he has played in 2024.

You can be certain of one thing - every single one of the 60 players in each field will want to try again in Los Angeles in 2028.

If there was a disappointment then it was in the lack of TV coverage by both the BBC and Eurosport. Fortunately, I subscribe to Discovery+ and was able to watch every shot in the final round of the men’s event.

The women’s tournament was no less thrilling, with Lydia Ko completing the full set of medals and gaining entry to the LPGA Hall of Fame.

These were both events that deserved a bigger global TV audience.