Great Britain’s Tommy Fleetwood fell agonisingly short of a silver in the men’s golf, dropping one stroke short of world number one Scottie Scheffler who continues his legendary 2024 by adding to his six titles, including the Masters in April, with a record-breaking final round.
At the tee box this morning, Fleetwood lined up in a provisional bronze, playing the final group alongside joint leaders Jon Rahm of Spain and Xander Schauffele of USA. Scheffler made a fast start to proceedings, birdieing his first three holes, but quickly fell outside of the medal conversation with six subsequent pars. No disasters for the eventual champion, but the surrounding competition was at a remorselessly high quality, Rahm building a four stroke lead by the 11th hole.
However, the Spaniard, who usually seems so unflappable, hit two bogeys to begin an instantly memorable capitulation, eventually finishing the back nine with five bogeys and one double bogey, missing putts on the last two holes to deny him bronze.
Amidst Rahm’s collapse, Fleetwood thrived in the shadows, drawing level with the Spaniard from a four stroke deficit within two holes before going level with Scheffler as he made his back nine assault on the course record. The atmosphere at Le Golf National was excellent, home favourite Victor Perez coming through in 63 to the crowd’s great pleasure, and Scheffler followed with six birdies in eight holes before a par on the 18th laid down the marker for Fleetwood.
Under this newfound spotlight, Fleetwood buckled, finding the rough from his tee shot on 17, then missing the green on the 18th when a birdie was needed to enforce a playoff. Having missed the chip for that birdie narrowly, he held his nerve to steer clear of a bronze medal playoff against Hideki Matsuyama, to give Great Britain a second Olympic golf medal, one stroke short of the gold his mate Justin Rose secured on golf’s return to the Games in 2016.
Nonetheless, it was one of the rounds of the Briton’s life, pushing multiple major and PGA tour winners to the very end despite those titles being missing from his CV. His golf captured the imagination of the crowd, and could catapult his career to new levels in a week where there was considerable distraction off the course amidst the trouble in his hometown Southport.
Scheffler, meanwhile, makes it two from the last two for USA, adding to Schauffele’s gold in 2020, and continues his historic run at the summit of the sport.
Fleetwood wins silver, Scheffler takes the gold – as it happened
05:04 PM BST
Contrasting fortunes
05:02 PM BST
Fleetwood’s heroics
It was nothing less than a stoic effort from the Southport man – suffice to say it’s been a week full of distraction in that context for him – as he lined up in the final group in a provisional third place alongside Spain’s Rahm and USA’s Schauffele, two men with significantly larger major title pedigree than him. Fleetwood was doing battle with the big dogs, having never won a PGA Tour title before – this is one of the best performances of his career and both a gratifying but agonising result.
Once Scheffler’s score of -19 was confirmed, Fleetwood’s golf became noticably tense where previously he’d excelled in the context of Rahm and Schauffele’s capitulations. A drive into the rough on 17, and inaccurate approach on 18 were the pivotal moments.
His most exemplary golf came on day two, when he followed a day one 67 with 64, finishing the tournament with a 69, then 66 today, leaving him 18 under par. Credit must go to his nerve to hole the putt on the 18th, having had his hopes shattered with a cruelly close chip, he had a far-from-simple putt to ensure he got his silver, and not a bronze medal play off that would have served as a harsh kick in the teeth.
He joins his mate Justin Rose as an Olympic medalist for Great Britain, but it’s a silver where Rose took gold.
04:51 PM BST
Scheffler’s incredible numbers
Scottie Scheffler’s comeback is one for the ages, he was one of the possibles rather than the probables coming into today’s fourth and final round. He birdied his first three and seemed dangerous, but fell to the wayside as he parred the next six as Jon Rahm built a seemingly insurmountable lead – going into the 11th, Rahm was six clear of the eventual champion, and four clear of Schauffele in second, whose own collapse saw him drop to tied ninth on -12.
However, a scintillating back nine that saw him come in six under from the last nine, including four consecutive birdies from holes 14 to 17.
He shot a four-under-par 67 on day one, then 69 and 67 on days two and three, before a course record equaling 62 to finish 19 under par.
04:43 PM BST
Final leaderboard:
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Gold: Scottie Scheffler, USA: -19
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Silver: Tommy Fleetwood, Great Britain: -18
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Bronze: Hideki Matsuyama, Japan: -17
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Victor Perez, France: -16
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Rory McIlroy, Ireland: -15
Jon Rahm, Spain: -15
04:40 PM BST
Fleetwood putts for silver
5 foot from the hole, similar line to Rahm’s putt so he’ll have a good read. But Rahm misses – he’s dropped six, yes six, in the back nine.
And he gets it!! A thoroughly deserved silver for Great…
