SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France — Scottie Scheffler said it, and meant it, and paired it with that look he often gives. That, sorry mate this is all i have look, along with a shrug from Charlie Brown.
It was Thursday at the Olympics and Scheffler had just shot a no-frills opening round of 67. The 4-under-par day was fun, but Scheffler has started doing such great things with such regularity that you don’t notice it until something huge happens. That’s what the greats do, right? They make it look easy.
Scheffler is, without a doubt, the best player in golf. He has been for some time. He has been No. 1 in the world for 99 of the past 122 weeks, including the last 64. He has 12 top-10 finishes in his last 17 major appearances, with two Masters victories. The gold medal hung around his neck on Sunday means he has now won 14 times in his last 59 starts, and seven of his last 11. It has become abundantly clear over time that he is no passing comet. Scheffler has the makings of an all-timer and could — keyword, could — become one of those figures in American sports. The figures we remember.
That’s what made it so fitting to see Scheffler in an Olympic setting this week. One of the joys of this sport competing in the Games is that the best golfers are in the same place as Olympians. For a competition as limited as this one, it’s a chance for a star like Scottie to catch some of the light that shines on players like LeBron, Simone and Ledecky.
When Scheffler heard a theory like that, that was the moment she kind of looked over and said, uh, no. Someone like Ledecky, he explained, is in her own category. (“I’m going to have to practice harder.”) He said he doesn’t care or think about his legacy.
“Eventually we will be forgotten,” he added.
He meant it that way in the broadest sense of the word. Scheffler is a deeply religious man with Christian convictions, and the answer was reminiscent of Ecclesiastes. As he walked away, the words were repeated. “Eventually we’re forgotten, aren’t we?” a voice said. “Heavy stuff.”
“Well,” Scheffler said, looking back, “it’s true.”
This is Scheffler’s force field of perspective. Everything is here and now. Life is bigger than a golf ball. The man has said so often that he doesn’t measure himself by how he plays golf that it’s probably high time people started believing him. This is how he sees the world. As a result, he’s not burdened with the weight of playing at the level of a star, because he doesn’t see himself as a star.
There is no count of how many athletes can say that, but you can bet it’s only a few.
So instead of focusing on what Scheffler’s exploits will mean in the future, maybe it’s worth focusing on what is here now.
Gold medalist and Olympic champion, SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER, representing the United States of America. 🇺🇸🥇
📺 Golf Channel and Peacock | #Olympic Games in Paris photo.twitter.com/MkzJR0nFvJ
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 4, 2024
Scheffler, a descendant of German and Italian immigrants whose family has lived in the United States for “a couple of generations” and whose grandfather served in the U.S. Army, is now an Olympic gold medalist.
Scheffler, the 28-year-old husband of Meredith and father of 3-month-old Bennett, just pulled off one of the biggest comebacks in recent history, winning an honor that only five men in history can achieve.
Scheffler, born in New Jersey and raised in Texas, not only won gold, but he did so on the perfect world stage: Paris.
Standing on a podium next to the 18th green at Le Golf National for “The Star-Spangled Banner” on Sunday, Scheffler broke down when the moment struck him. He mumbled the words, stopped at “O’er the land of the free…”, closed his eyes and lowered them to the back of his sleeve. He emerged red-faced, fighting back a few real tears.
“My parents taught me at a young age what it means to be an American,” Scheffler said, “and what it means to be free and proud to represent my country this week.”
The emotions were raw, partly because the outcome still felt so far-fetched. On Sunday afternoon, Jon Rahm looked a sure thing to claim the gold medal for Spain. He was four shots ahead with eight holes to play and was gliding around at a breezy 6-under on the day. It was vintage Rahm. The one who seeks and destroys.
Scheffler looked at the scoreboard as he played the back nine and saw Rahm’s score rise to 20-under. In retrospect, even par on the way out would have been good enough for the Spaniard to win. But Rahm faltered. Brutally. He played the last eight holes at 5-over and didn’t win, let alone.
Scheffler, meanwhile, was firing on all cylinders like few others can. He was six shots behind the leader and began shooting for pins, hoping to perhaps make it into the medal table. He later said that at some points he wasn’t sure whether he was still in contention. In reality, he wasn’t. DataGolf gave Scheffler a 0.4 percent chance of winning when Rahm reached 20 under. Rahm was at 90.2 percent.
It turns out, though, that a back nine for the ages did more than just put him in contention. Scheffler’s closing 6-under 29 pushed him to 19-under for the day, beating silver medalist Tommy Fleetwood and bronze medalist Hideki Matsuyama.
This was Scheffler in every way. The game’s best ball-striker hit approaches to 2 feet, to 13 inches and to 7 feet on holes 14, 15 and 16. All birdies. From the left rough on the 17th, knowing that a gold was suddenly in play after Rahm double-bogeyed the 14th, Scheffler hit an 8-iron to 17 feet, then rolled in another birdie. He found the right rough on the 18th and spent an extra stroke or two checking out his lie. Playing a ball slightly above his feet to a front pin location over water, Scheffler safely dropped an approach to 35 feet and closed with a two-putt.
Scheffler birdied four straight holes on Sunday night and relied on his iron play to clinch a gold medal. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Around him, chaos reigned. Fans chanted and cheered. Fellow players were unsettled by the intense pressure.
But Scheffler? He looked like he was doing the shopping on a Sunday.
The pressure to win never got to him, probably because he didn’t think about what winning would mean.
Gold.
A new chapter in a career that could one day end up in the air.
Scheffler isn’t chasing any of that. He’s just trying to play good golf.
It’s just that this is where it’s gotten him. On the edge of unforgettable.
(Top photo: David Cannon/Getty Images)
