By a Correspondent
Tokyo: US golfer Xander Schauffele emerged winner of the men’s golf competition on a hot, sunny Sunday, clinching gold with a gutsy par-save on the final hole for a 4-under par 67 and 18-under total.
It was one better than record-setting Slovakian Rory Sabbatini, who brought in the best-ever card on Olympic history with a 10-under oar round at Kasumigaseki Country Club.
The South African-born Sabbatini then had to wait as the final, dramatic acts were played out behind him on the course.
And it took the mental resilience that came by way of his upbringing, fostered by a father of German-French descent and Chinese Taipei mother raised in Japan. Consider it a respectful nod to the culture of the host country, where his grandparents still live.
“I felt like for the most part of the day I stayed very calm,” Schauffele said. “I usually look very calm but there’s something terrible happening inside at times.
“So I was able to learn on those moments where I’ve lost coming down the stretch, where I hit a bad shot or a bad wedge or a bad putt and sort of lose my cool.
“But I felt like today I really thought I had a one-shot lead going into 16 or 17 and I looked at the board and I saw Rory (Sabbatini) shot 61, so that was a nice wake-up call for me; thank goodness there was a board there or I wouldn’t have known.
“Yeah, it was a roller-coaster day for me especially on that back nine coming in and just happy I could fall back on parts of my game to sort of pull me through.”
Until one swing on the par-5 14th hole that produced a wayward drive and bogey, Schauffele remained undeterred through a scoring assault that was unfolding ahead, led by Sabbatini’s brilliant record-setting round.
Loaded grouo
In fact, the perfect scoring conditions led to a seven-player elimination for the bronze medal, which was finally decided on the fourth extra hole with C.T. Pan of Chinese Taipei beating Collin Morikawa of the USA with a par 4 on no. 18.
Both had matched the former Olympic record of 63 Sunday to get into the playoff.
Before the late drama unfolded, it appeared to be Schauffele’s private coronation. He entered the day leading Japan’s Olympic hope, Hideki Matsuyama, by one.
Birdies on the first two holes then extended his lead to three and indicated the work he had done with his father/swing coach, Stefan, the evening before had resolved some driving issues that developed in round three.
He added two more birdies and seemingly was cruising along until 14, where he pushed a drive that ended up in dense underbrush and forced a penalty drop.
Schauffele managed to save bogey, but that dropped him into a tie with Sabbatini at 17-under par … and his internal battle was on.
“I was cruising pretty nice, I saw that I had a three-shot lead going into 14 and made an absolute mess of the hole,” Schauffele said.
Handy cushion
“I really tried to keep my head down from that point on and I saw the massive board on 16. So the early putts that fell and the good shots were nice for a cushion and it was fortunately just enough for me to squeak by finishing up.”
In the clubhouse, Sabbatini was waiting with his wife and caddie, Martina, to see how it would unfold. He had done everything he could, putting together a masterpiece that consisted of 10 birdies, an eagle-2, five pars and two bogeys.
The closing birdie on 18 came with an emphatic fist pump as the ball approached the hole, giving Sabbatini the men’s Olympic record by two strokes.
“I was out there today and I kept just trying to remind myself, okay, don’t think ahead, don’t think ahead, just enjoy the moment that you’re in because you don’t know what it’s going to end, just enjoy every hole as it comes,” Sabbatini said.
“It just seemed like every time I kind of had a hiccup out there I was like, oh, maybe this is the end of the run, but okay. And then all of a sudden, I kicked back into gear. So it was a lot of fun and it was just one of those rare days that you have on the golf course.”
Schauffele finally managed to retake the lead with a birdie-3 on the 17th hole, which was shortened to just 305 yards. But then on 18, another pushed drive forced Schauffele to lay up into the fairway, leaving a wedge to the hole.
Calm finish
Undeterred, he calmly chipped to four feet and holed the par putt.
“Well, I tell you what, it (the wait) was for a long time,” said Sabbatini, who at 45 was the oldest player in the field.
“It seemed like it was inevitable that Xander was going to win and then all of a sudden he created some excitement for us. So, he definitely kind of put me back on edge waiting there at the end.
“It was fun,” he added. “He played fantastic, he’s a great champion and I’m just happy to be able to stand anywhere near him on the podium.”
Once that drama was settled, it was time to decide the bronze medal in a star-studded field that also included Matsuyama (who shot 67), Paul Casey of Great Britain (68), Rory McIlroy of Ireland (67), Mito Pereira of Chile (67) and Sebastián Muñoz of Colombia (67). It was so large, it required splitting into two groups.
Matsuyama and Casey were eliminated first, followed by Muñoz, then Pereira and McIlroy.
“I was not able to deliver the performance I was hoping for,” Matsuyama said. ”At the same time, the positive is that I was able to contend.
“There was a moment where I could potentially catch up and move past the leaders. But I just was not able to put it together at the end. There are some things that I’ve identified that I need to work on, which I hope to work on moving forward.”
Morikawa bogeyed the final hole after his approach to the 18th green plugged in the steep upslope of the fronting bunker. Pan sank a par-saving putt for the medal.
“Very satisfying,” Pan said. “It came as a surprise to me too. After day one, plus 3, 74, I remember I texted one of my good friends and I was like, the struggle is real.
“So it’s quite a turnaround for this week winning the bronze medal that I couldn’t even think about it, didn’t even think about it after Thursday’s round. So overall that was a very happy ending.”
Determination
McIlroy for one came away more determined than ever to earn an Olympic medal.
“Yeah, it does, it makes me even more determined going to Paris (in 2024) and trying to pick one up,” he said. “It’s disappointing going away from here without any hardware, I’ve been saying all day I never tried so hard in my life to finish third.
“But it’s been a great experience, today was a great day to be up there in contention for a medal … certainly had a different feeling to it than I expected and yeah, as I said I’m already looking forward to three years’ time and trying to go at least one better but hopefully three better.”
“I feel good,” Schauffele said of winning the gold medal in Japan, considering his heritage. “I maybe put more pressure on myself to go win this more than anything else for quite some time …
“And my ties here with my grandparents living here and my mom growing up here as well, there’s just all these things that sort of motivated me to do better, be better.
“And maybe I put more pressure on myself but it was sort of more than just golf for me and I’m just really, really happy and fortunate to be sitting here.”
Also read: Oly Update: Schauffele’s still ahead but Matsuyama has closed in
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