SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France — Scottie Scheffler said it, and meant it, and paired it with that look he often gives. That, sorry, bud, this is all I got gaze, along with a Charlie Brown shoulder shrug.
It was Thursday at the Olympic Games and Scheffler had just wrapped a no-frills opening-round 67. The 4-under-par day was nice, but Scheffler has come to do such amazing things with such regularity that you only take notice when something colossal happens. That’s what the great ones do, right? They make it look easy.
Scheffler is, unquestionably, the best player in golf. He has been for quite some time. He’s been ranked No. 1 in the world for 99 of 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 put 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, along the way, become very clear that he is no passing comet. Scheffler has all the makings of an all-timer and could — keyword, could — become one of those figures in U.S. sports. The ones we remember.
Which is what made it so fitting to see Scheffler in an Olympic environment this week. One of the joys of this sport taking part in the Games is putting golf’s greatest players in the same collective venue as Olympians. For a game so circumscribed as this one, it’s a chance for a star like Scottie to catch some of the light that shines on the likes of LeBron, Simone and Ledecky.
Hearing such a theory, that was when Scheffler sort of cocked an eye and said, eh, no. Someone like Ledecky, he explained, is in her own category. (“I’m going to have to practice harder.”) He said he does not care or think about his legacy.
“Ultimately, we’ll be forgotten,” he added.
He meant so in the broadest scheme of things. Scheffler is a deeply religious man of Christian beliefs and the response smacked of Ecclesiastes. As he walked away, the words were repeated back to him. “Ultimately, we’ll be forgotten, huh?” a voice said. “Heavy stuff.”
“Well,” Scheffler said, looking back, “it’s true.”
This is Scheffler’s forcefield of perspective. Everything is here and now. Life is larger than a golf ball. The man has said so many times that he doesn’t measure himself by how he plays golf that it’s probably well past time people start believing him. This is how he sees the world. As a result, he is not saddled with the weight of playing to a star’s standard because he doesn’t think of himself as a star.
There’s no running count on how many transcendent athletes you can say that about, but trust that it’s few.
So, instead of focusing on what Scheffler’s heroics will mean in time, maybe it’s worth focusing on what’s here now.
Gold medalist and Olympic champion, SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER, representing the United States of America. 🇺🇸🥇
📺 Golf Channel and Peacock | #ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/MkzJR0nFvJ
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 4, 2024
Scheffler, a descendent of German and Italian immigrants, whose family has been in the United States “for a few generations,” and whose grandfather served in the U.S. military, is now an Olympic gold medalist.
Scheffler, a 28-year-old husband to Meredith and father to three-month-old Bennett, just put together one of the greatest comebacks in recent memory to win an honor that only five men in history can claim.
Scheffler, born in New Jersey and raised in Texas, not only won gold but did so on the perfect global stage — Paris.
Standing for the “The Star-Spangled Banner” Sunday on a podium next to Le Golf National’s 18th green, Scheffler broke down when the moment all hit him. Mouthing the words, he stopped at “O’er the land of the free …” pressing his eyes closed and bringing his eyes to the back of his sleeve. He came up for air red-faced, fighting back some very real tears.
“My parents taught me from a young age what it meant to be an American,” Scheffler said, “and what it meant to be free and proud to be representing my country this week.”
The emotions were raw, in part, because the result still felt so far-fetched. Around mid-afternoon Sunday, Jon Rahm seemed like a lock to claim the gold medal for Spain. He was four shots up with eight holes to play and cruising around at a breezy 6-under on the day. It looked like vintage Rahm. The one who seeks and destroys.
Playing the back nine, Scheffler glanced at a leaderboard and saw Rahm’s score soar to 20-under. In hindsight, even par on the way out the door would’ve been good enough for the Spaniard to win. But Rahm faltered. Brutally so. He played the final eight holes at 5-over and didn’t medal, let alone win.
Scheffler, meanwhile, turned it on like few can. Sitting six shots off the lead, he began firing at pins, hoping to maybe reach the medal stand. He said later that he was unsure at points if he was still in contention or not. In truth, he really wasn’t. DataGolf gave Scheffler a 0.4 percent chance of winning when Rahm reached 20-under. Rahm was at 90.2 percent.
Turns out, though, a back-nine for the ages did more than contend. Scheffler’s closing 6-under 29 pushed him to 19-under for the day, edging silver-medalist Tommy Fleetwood and bronze winner Hideki Matsuyama.
This was Scheffler in all his parts. 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 17, knowing a gold was suddenly in play following a double-bogey by Rahm on 14, Scheffler hit an 8-iron to 17 feet, then rolled in another birdie. He found the right rough on 18 and spent an extra beat or two looking over his lie. Playing a ball slightly above his feet into a front pin location over water, Scheffler safely dropped an approach to 35 feet and closed with a two-putt.
Scheffler had birdies on four straight holes late Sunday, relying on his iron play to chase down a gold medal. (Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)
All around him was chaos. Fans chanting and cheering. Fellow players coming unglued under intense pressure.
But Scheffler? He looked he was out running Sunday errands.
The pressure of winning never got to him. Probably because he wasn’t thinking about what winning would mean.
Gold.
Another chapter in a career legacy that could enter rare air someday.
Scheffler isn’t chasing any of that. He’s just trying to play good golf.
It just so happens this is where it’s gotten him. On the verge of unforgettable.
(Top photo: David Cannon / Getty Images)