Rory McIlroy surged into contention at Le Golf National in Paris with a five-birdie blitz before a misjudgment with a wedge in his hands at the 15th hole saw his Olympic medal hopes drain away on a day when the back nine leaderboard rarely stood still.
In the end, the United States again claimed gold with Scottie Scheffler’s stunning final round of 62 producing a 19-under par finishing tally which earned him the win with England’s Tommy Fleetwood just one shot behind on 18 under. Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama held on to third place for the bronze on a battling afternoon that included many casualties.
After the round, a disappointed McIlroy, who finished tied fifth, turned into his own harshest critic.
“I feel I’ve been golf’s nearly man for the last three years,” he said.
Olympics: Complete day-by-day guide to the Irish athletes in action in Paris
Daniel Wiffen’s Olympic bronze medal seals the most incredible weekend in history of Irish sport
Sailing: Finn Lynch up to 10th overall as he targets a dinghy medal race spot
Double-medal winner Wiffen the pride of both traditions North and South
“I want that tide to turn, and go from the nearly man back to winning golf tournaments. It’s all well and good saying ‘I’m close, I’m close, I’m close’, but until I step through the threshold and turn these close misses and close calls into wins, that’s what I need to do.”
Did you feel that here, McIlroy was asked?
“Yeah. For sure,” replied the world number three.
McIlroy opened his final round with two birdies in the first three holes and played steady golf until the turn. Then from the 10th to the 14th he became his freewheeling best, firing in five successive birdies, a 6-iron to tap in range at 12 and a 20 foot putt on the next hole fueling the momentum.
McIlroy didn’t just nibble at the field, he took a giant bite out of it as he moved up to tied third on 17 under. Then came the costly 15th.
With a wedge in his hands and water in front of the green, the smallest of misjudgments stopped him dead. From the drop zone he pitched well past the hole, didn’t hole the difficult long putt and walked away with double bogey.
“I birdied 10 and 11 and I looked at the board and I was -14 and Jon [Rahm] had got to -20,” said McIlroy. “So, it was like I didn’t really feel I had a chance. I looked at the board again after I’d birdied 14 and I was one behind and I was like ‘holy shit what just happened’.
“Even that wedge on 15, I hit the shot I wanted to hit. The two boys in front of me Nicolai [Hojgaard] and Hideki [Matsuyama], they got their balls up in the air a little bit more and the wind carried it. They went 25, 30 feet past so I hit the shot I wanted to hit, I just didn’t get the ball in the air enough for the wind to carry it that extra three or four yards that it needed to.
“But I tried to stay aggressive, tried to land the wedge between the front edge and the hole. Missed my spot by maybe three or of four yards and that is going to end up costing me a medal.”
Rahm, who was cruising at the top of the leaderboard, dropped four shots through four holes on the back nine to knock himself off the top. A double bogey seven on the par-5 14th left the Spaniard standing staring at the hole in utter contempt after his short four-foot putt for bogey ran just as far past.
That left Scheffler and England’s Fleetwood in a duel to see who would blink first. And it was Scheffler who set the pace and almost matched McIlroy’s run with four birdies through 14, 15, 16 and 17, the fourth putting him on 19-under par, a shot in front and just the 18th hole to play.
Although Scheffler found the rough on 18, he safely negotiated the water fronting the green to see out his round and challenge Fleetwood and Hideki Matsuyama to summon up some magic.
Fleetwood faltered when a heavy chip from the fringe on the 17th cost him a bogey as Scheffler stayed loose hitting balls on the range. No need, the American finished a shot ahead, McIlroy left thinking what might have been.
