When golf returned to the Olympics in 2016, it was derided and deemed no more meaningful than your average PGA tournament.
Many top athletes withdrew from the Rio Olympics due to its proximity to major cities and concerns about the Zika virus, and five years later the Tokyo Olympics went off without much fanfare.
But any questions about what a gold medal would mean to golf’s current top player were more than answered when tears welled up in Scottie Scheffler’s eyes as the Star-Spangled Banner played on the medal stand at Le Golf National on Sunday.
The 28-year-old then shared a kiss with wife Meredith, who was holding their three-month-old son Bennett.
2024 Paris Olympics
Scheffler’s final-round 62 and a stunning collapse by Spain’s Jon Rahm gave the American his first gold medal in Paris, capping a season that also included a Masters victory.
Scheffler, the No. 1 ranked golfer in the world, entered Sunday four strokes behind the leader but started the day with three consecutive birdies.
This set the tone for an attack that would propel him to the top of the leaderboard for good.
Tommy Fleetwood and Hideki Matsuyama, who won silver and bronze medals respectively, looked similarly excited on the medal stand, with Matsuyama pulling out his phone to take a selfie.
The question of whether golf should ever be an Olympic sport at all was finally answered in the affirmative on Sunday.
No one can now say for sure that it doesn’t mean much to those involved.
