The ultimate spherical of the boys’s competitors on the 2024 Paris Olympics had all of it: an thrilling leaderboard and unbelievable drama down the stretch, with 54-hole co-leader Jon Rahm opening up a four-shot lead with 9 holes to play with a scorching front-nine 31, solely to fade away with a head-scratching back-nine rating of 39.

Scottie Scheffler finally prevailed to win the gold medal, rallying from six photographs behind and making birdie on 4 of his ultimate 5 holes to submit a bogey-free spherical of 62. That was sufficient to assert victory by one shot over Tommy Fleetwood, who gained silver, and end two photographs forward of Hideki Matsuyama, who claimed bronze.

It was Rahm’s collapse, although, that ignited essentially the most essential chatter on Golf Channel’s “Golf Central” instantly following the conclusion of play.

“That was simply in regards to the wildest again 9 that you possibly can ever think about, ever predict,” analyst Brandel Chamblee started. “John Rahm with a four-shot lead within the gold place, Scottie Scheffler six again, making the flip from the gold place, and wins gold, with out a playoff. One shoots 29, John Rahm shoots 39.

“I’m gonna put that down as one of many greatest collapse— chokes of the yr,” he continued. “In all probability proper up there with Rory McIlroy coming down the stretch on the U.S. Open.”

After making six birdies on his opening 10 holes on Sunday, Rahm endured a brutal four-hole stretch on Nos. 11-14 at Le Golf Nationwide, carding two bogeys and a double. He bounced again with a birdie on the par-3 sixteenth, however closed with two extra bogeys on Nos. 17 and 18.

“Jon Rahm appeared so stable the primary three-and-a-half rounds, main the sphere in fairways hit, main the sphere in driving distance, main the sphere in greens in regulation,” Chamblee mentioned. “However the demon that has plagued him during the last about yr is that double cross. And we noticed it slightly bit on the eighth, nevertheless it visited him notably on the again 9 in a number of key cases.

“After which after all, you’ve gotten the odd three-putt right here or there,” he continued. “So, shedding a four-shot lead, not even medaling, by the way in which, with a four-shot lead.”

After the spherical, Rahm expressed his heartbreak with Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard.

“For about 97 p.c of the week has been incredible,” Rahm mentioned. “The gang has been nice. The week has been nice. The golf course is incredible and it’s only a, there’s mainly a four-hole stretch the place I may say I wasn’t joyful. Apart from that, it’s been a extremely good match. There’s nonetheless rather a lot to be happy with, however that is one thing that’s gonna sting for some time.”

Hoggard requested Rahm if arising brief made him even hungrier to strive once more in 4 years.

“It’s too early to be saying that,” he mentioned. “You recognize, I used to be saying all week that I might understand how a lot this implies when the match was over, and generally, you realize while you win, however you undoubtedly know while you don’t win, and it simply stings on a distinct emotional degree.

“So it hurts proper now greater than I anticipated, and it feels — it’s onerous to let my nation down in that method,” he continued. “Had it beneath management and simply let it go. That’s all I can say. I don’t know, I’m assuming there’s gonna be motivation for the longer term, however I mentioned, proper now, it’s extra painful than the rest.”

If Rahm qualifies for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, he could nicely have an opportunity to make the rostrum once more. The host course is Riviera, the place he gained the Genesis Invitational in 2023.

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Golf.com Editor

As a four-year member of Columbia’s inaugural class of feminine varsity golfers, Jessica can out-birdie everybody on the masthead. She will out-hustle them within the workplace, too, the place she’s primarily answerable for producing each print and on-line options, and overseeing main particular tasks, corresponding to GOLF’s inaugural Fashion Is­sue, which debuted in February 2018. Her origi­nal interview sequence, “A Spherical With,” debuted in November of 2015, and appeared in each within the journal and in video type on GOLF.com.