World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler arrived in Paris in top form, aiming to win gold for Team USA in her Olympic debut.
The men’s golf competition begins on Thursday at Le Golf National, site of the 2018 Ryder Cup.
“Winning a gold medal would be very special,” Scheffler said Monday.
“If it doesn’t happen, it won’t be the end of my life. But if I can win a gold medal it would be very special and that’s one of the reasons I’m here this week. But as much as I love going to watch table tennis, that’s not why I came here.”
Of course, being an Olympian means there are countless distractions lurking all around: the Paris festivities, the various sports, the myriad media and obligations, and the hundreds of thousands of fans that turn the City of Light upside down, making it hard for golfers to focus on the task at hand.
Golf is also a new development in the modern Olympic Games, returning to the quadrennial competition in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. With different golfers competing in the tournament every four years, the routine-oriented players have to adapt to new conditions each time – a daunting challenge for any athlete.
But Scheffler was as calm and collected as ever on Monday, which is a big part of why he is the best player in the world and has won six times already this season.
“It’s really fun to come here and it’s fun to be a part of this event,” Scheffler said.
“I’m looking forward to competing.”
Players, pundits and fans have struggled to calculate the weight of the gold medal compared to major championships and regular PGA Tour events, which now disrupt the professional golf schedule every four years, but Scheffler isn’t interested in any of that talk.
“I try to place equal value on every tournament I play in,” Scheffler said.
“I feel like whenever I compete I try to do my best and that’s definitely been the case this week. Being able to take part in the Olympics is definitely special and I’m looking forward to the chance to compete for a medal for my country.”
Scheffler goes into every tournament looking to win, whether the prize is a green jacket, a plaid jacket, a trophy or a gold medal, but he acknowledges the atmosphere this week is “different.”
But Scheffler never changes his approach, which is why he enters this week as the favorite to win, just like every major and tournament he’s played this year.
Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation Playing Through. Follow For more golf articles, follow us on Twitter Jack Mirko In the same way.
