Scottie Scheffler won the 2024 Paris Olympics men's golf tournament on Sunday at Le Golf National in France, shooting a final round of 9-under 62 to claim the gold medal by a shot over Great Britain's Tommy Fleetwood.
Scheffler's final-round comeback was historic for a variety of reasons, including setting an Olympic record and marking the first time Scheffler has won on foreign soil -- in the Olympics no less.
After the tournament was over, the medal ceremony was conducted with Scheffler atop the podium, Fleetwood in the silver-medal position and 2021 Masters winner Hideki Matsuyama in the bronze position. As it tradition, the winner's home national anthem was played, with "The Star-Spangled Banner" heard across Le Golf National. Scheffler kept it together for most of the Francis Scott Key poem set to music, but at the end, Scheffler found himself breaking down and wiping tears from his eyes as the song completed.
Lots of golf viewers were surprised to see Scheffler crying, as the world No. 1 isn't seen as a particularly emotional guy when he plays golf. However, Scheffler revealed afterward why he started to tear up at the national anthem.
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— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) August 4, 2024
"I would say first and foremost I'm proud of the country I'm from," Scheffler said. "I'm proud to be American. I got emotional the other night watching the gold medal ceremony for the women's gymnastics. I take tremendous pride in coming over here and representing my country.
"And yeah, same thing, like when you go to a sporting event, you hear everybody in the stands singing the national anthem, it's a pretty special thing to be a part of, and I think that's something we take tremendous pride in."
It all came full circle for him standing on the podium knowing he had won a gold medal and triggered the US national anthem to be played.
"It was just very emotional being up there on stage there as the flag is being raised and sitting there singing the national anthem," he said. "Yes, that's definitely one I'll remember for a long time."
Then Scheffler revealed that he's actually much more emotional than golf fans know.
"Typically I'm fairly emotional as it is," he said. "I think with this tournament, there wasn't much time in between winning, and then you kind of just get ushered through everything. I remember after the Masters this year, I took a bathroom break but really I just wanted to be by myself for a minute. I cried pretty good after that one."
The win is Scheffler's seventh on the year, perhaps bringing him equal with Xander Schauffele in the player-voted PGA Tour Player of the Year race.
