18 observations, thoughts and predictions for the week in golf…
- Scottie Scheffler’s year will be defined by the Masters and then the Players repeat but the Olympics adds a unique wrinkle. The field of the Olympic golf competition is not as deep as the four Signature series events that Scheffler also won. Those wins are fantastic, and one came the week before the Players, another the week after he won the Masters, and the other two the week before and right after the U.S. Open. In the collective that achievement is wildly impressive, but the Olympics is a very big stage and the atmosphere felt big. Additionally, the 62 on the final day makes the Olympic gold medal the 3rd biggest achievement of a year that is already historically great.
- Scheffler also becomes the first player to win the gold medal in a year he also won a major. The Masters and Gold medal double presents the opportunity for a great photo opportunity for the green jacket holder draped in a gold medal. Winning another major along with the Masters is bigger but it’s not something that Augusta National can and would celebrate but the first reigning Masters champion to then win the gold medal in the same year is a special additive for the Masters Tournament to celebrate. Green and gold works and it will be a cool image to see.
- The Olympic golf competition is not a PGA Tour event but whether it was Scheffler or Xander Schauffele who won gold the members of the PGA Tour who vote on the Player of the Year would have computed the win into their voting. Scheffler was the favorite already because the tour members know that six is an insane win total in a season and that was likely to trump the two majors won by Schauffele.
- Tommy Fleetwood is good enough to win all the big stuff in professional golf. The silver medal is a symbolic achievement and a great one as well for Fleetwood. He has seven very good wins on the DP world tour and has Mollywood from Paris but he’s running a career trac that reminds me of tennis’ Andy Murray. Neither are the best of their generation, both had close calls in the biggest events, and both are universally liked and appreciated. Murray won the gold in Olympic tennis in London in 2012 and six weeks later won his first grand slam title at the U.S. Open. Presuming that Fleetwood will eventually win on the PGA Tour and maybe a major is dicey, but it would not be a big surprise if he started to pick off a big one in the next year.
- Victor Perez was the perfect guy to give Le Golf National juice on the final day. Playing out in front of the final groups Perez’ stretch of 6-under in five holes put him on the cusp of the medal stand and him feeding off the crowd added even more energy to the last hour of the competition. Perez equals Hideki Matsuyama best finish, T4, for a player in the competition from the host nation.
- Rory McIlroy had a moment late on Sunday which summarizes his last decade. So good, so close, so exciting yet there is a sense of being unfulfilled. Rory has made the big pivot about the Olympics, and he has evolved from a position in 2016 of cynicism about golf in the Olympics to suggesting after his final round Sunday that the Olympics can be as big as the Ryder Cup. Rory was close to touching the medal stand when he rinsed his second shot on the 15th hole from 141 yards. A massive blunder that led to a double bogey and out of medal contention. For the most part he’s always there in the big events and for ten years he’s not closed. The Olympics is not a major but Rory’s own suggestion that it can be massive amplifies that on a stage he considers big he had yet another dubious moment.
- Jon Rahm was eight holes from putting a positive spin on what has been a weirdly turbulent year. Rahm stood on the 11th tee with a four shot lead and less than two hours he was leaving without a medal. It was not an epic implosion but more like a subtle burn that started innocently enough with a three-putt bogey on the 11th hole. His 3rd shot on the 14th hole was the biggest mistake which led to a double bogey, and he never recovered. Rahm misses the things he values and only now does he know the value of the Olympic stage which make the failure to close even more stinging.
- Xander Schauffele will get a hall pass for recording the highest score among any player finishing in the top 33. One, he’s won two majors this year and secondly, he already possesses a gold medal. It doesn’t diminish the year in any way it was only going to enhance it, but it does provide the latest example that sure things any week or any day are extinct in professional golf.
- Wyndham Clark shot 75 day 1 and the criticism of his inclusion on the U.S. team was going to get louder and his final three rounds playing 15 under par will not stop, nor should it, the people who wanted Bryson DeChambeau in Paris. It may just serve as the week Clark found something that will allow him to finish the season in a similar manner to the way it started for him.
- The selection process for 2028 will be different. The main reason is that men’s professional golf will look much different in 2028. I do not think it will be as splintered as it is right now, but the world golf rankings and the algorithms used to currently rank players is going to be even more sophisticated in three years and while omissions will always be a part of sports the absence of a top 10 player in the world, like DeChambeau will not happen in 2028.
- Tom Kim was emotional after his final round knowing his opportunity to avoid military service in Korea was missed by not medaling. Korean players have either the Asian games or the Olympics to get a release from military service. At 22 Kim has many years and chances ahead of him since players have until age 35 to earn the release but being that close and getting it off his plate got to Kim when the event was over. Another story line that will follow all Korean players in Olympics to follow.
- I was hoping Joaquin Niemann would medal and then bemoan not being exempt into the archery competition. The year of the aggrieved golfer can’t end soon enough.
- The women’s competition should get great crowds as well this week. The LPGA is a more global tour than the PGA Tour and while much smaller in scale and interest the chances for Celine Boutier to medal and the ability for Olympic fans to walk around and see golf shots differentiates golf from all the other Olympic competitions. Another dramatic and bunched leaderboard will give golf their best Olympic fortnight and it won’t be close.
- Nelly Korda’s summer has been mystifyingly quiet. However, if she repeats her gold medal performance from Tokyo than she will bookend a historic year with a major still left in the women’s game. I expect Nelly to contend for gold after a big break to recharge.
- Seeing Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, Smiley Kaufman and their boys take in an Irish golf trip was fantastic. The number of great players who have not seen so many of the best places in the world to play golf is not an indictment of them at all. It’s their job to play and carving out more to play recreational golf is not an impulse most top players have. But the game is about fellowship and JT and Jordan’s love for golf is not just the competition, it’s the time. It doesn’t foreshadow results good or bad, it just signals an appreciation for the game.
- Keegan Bradley’s appointment to the Presidents Cup staff should be mandatory. Meaning the reigning Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup captains should always be part of the staff of each event. The days of looking at this from the PGA of America and PGA Tour’s territorial standpoint should long be over. USA golf should always make the pursuit of team titles a collective. Own what you own but have a common purpose.
- Brendan Todd is currently the bubble boy for the FedEx Cup playoffs sitting in the 70th spot going into the Wyndham Championship. His year includes 2 top 10’s, 4 top 25’s and 17 of 21 made cuts. Additionally, he played in three majors and made the cut in all three. That is the profile of a person worthy of the cusp of the “postseason”. The number 70 for the playoffs is the right number.
- Rickie Fowler begins this week at 104th in the FedEx cup standings and he’s not really in any jeopardy since he will play wherever he wants next year apart from earning his way into majors but his future among the truly elite is up for debate. At 35 he has plenty of tread, but can he climb again to the top reaches with another generation younger than him already winning multiple majors. If he’s made his last Cup team, he too should be on Jim Furyk’s Presidents Cup staff. There is no other player with more friends and relationships than Fowler and he will wear a USA uniform in one form or another for the next 15 years.