Olympics Drama Brought a Familiar Major Feel

How in the world did the Olympics go 112 years without golf being played? That is what I was wondering and asking myself late Saturday night as the final round of Men’s Individual Stroke Play rolled on.

The final round was everything I hoped it would be and way more. It had all of the drama that we are used to watching the four majors every year.

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I could not be happier that Xander Schauffele was able to pull through, although it was very difficult. At the end of the day, Bones Mackay made a great call on the broadcast that played a huge role.

On the 14th hole Schauffele missed his tee shot right, he would hit a provisional in case they couldn’t find his first ball. They did find it, with Bones saying how much of a break it was that they found it and that could make the difference in for the gold, because he was hitting his third shot instead of his fourth.

It saved him a shot, he bogeyed the hole, but would win by one shot. Schauffele would’ve had a double bogey, at best.

I think it’s impossible to overstate how insane the round of golf Rory Sabbatini put together. He shot an astounding ten under 61 to set a new Olympic record. Sabbatini would be tied for the lead for a bit as Schauffele scuffled, but would earn a well fought silver medal.

Then there was the epic seven, yes I said seven, man playoff for the bronze medal. A star studded playoff between Collin Morikawa, Sebastian Munoz, Mito Pereira, C.T.Pan, Hideki Matsuyama, Paul Casey, and Rory McIlroy.

It was as ridiculous as it sounds. They had to play in two different groups to to get everybody in. It was so great because its just not something we ever see because we never have playoffs for 3rd place.

It was C.T. Pan emerging victorious, winning the bronze for Chinese Taipei, on the podium with Schauffele and Sabbatini.

I did have one complaint about the tournament. I wish that the course would’ve played more difficult. Let me be clear, they did a fantastic job with Kasumigaseki this week. The course was in phenomenal shape and its a beautiful track.

I would’ve liked the players to be challenged a bit more. 18 under par was the winning score, personally I would prefer it to be around 10 under. It’s a rather minor criticism, but I think a tournament of this caliber should pose more of an issue for players more often. This is the Olympics we’re talking about.

It would be an injustice to not mention, again, how much winning Olympic gold means to Xander Schauffele and his family.

I wrote earlier this week about how Xander’s father, Stefan, was on track to be a decathlete for Germany, only to have his career derailed by a car accident caused by a drunk driver.

Xander was out there playing for him, his father, and his country, and, not to mention his grandparents, who live in Japan. Finally Xander triumphed.

I think the future of golf i the Olympics is very bright. I say that because we had some of the best players in the world already, I’m counting Jon Rahm because he was supposed to be there, but also that others completely turned around what they had originally thought about the Olympics.

Paul Casey had been raving about his experience in Tokyo all week already, but Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas were both very honest about how they weren’t sold on it going in, and had nothing but good things to say about their experience. I think that could pave the way to attract and keep golf’s biggest stars coming.

Next. Olympic Golf: Winners and Losers from Japan. dark

So, going down the checklist, we had massive run by a man in an early group that made noise and won a silver medal, a ton of drama coming in the final group on the 72nd hole, with the winner having an extreme feel good story, and the silliness that was a 7-man playoff for the bronze medal.

This weekend checked off of my boxes that makes golf majors fun to watch, only in the Olympics. Hopefully the women’s tournament is as dramatic as the men’s was. If not, we’ll look forward to 2024 in Paris.

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