After Saturday’s third round, in which Scottie Scheffler shot a 4-under 67, the World No. 1 referenced Nicolai Højgaard’s 9-under 62, a score that soared the young Dane up the Olympics leaderboard and tied the course record.
“You saw Nicolai had a really nice round [on Saturday], and I’m going to need something like that [on Sunday] if I’m going to be holding a medal,” Scheffler said.
“Just look looking forward to [Sunday]; getting off to a good start.”
Scheffler must have had a crystal ball because he did exactly that.
He birdied the first three holes of the day, including a chip-in two on the par-3 second hole. You could tell early on that Scheffler had everything working for him, especially with his putter, as he ranked ninth among the field in strokes gained putting on Sunday. The flat stick has held Scheffler back at some points this season, notably at Royal Troon.
But not on Sunday.
Scheffler tallied six more par-breakers on the back side, including four straight on the 14th, 15th, 16th, and 17th holes. You knew he had something special in store, especially when he played the par-4 15th, where he stuck his approach a couple of inches away. The reigning Masters champion remained dialed in on the next hole, the short and dangerous par-3 16th, as Scheffler knocked his tee shot right over the flag stick, leading to another birdie. Then, on the penultimate hole, the top-ranked player in the world drained a 17-footer, an impressive birdie considering he missed the fairway left and hacked his second shot up and onto the green.
He raced past every other contender, coming from behind to snatch the gold away from the likes of Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm, and Hideki Matsuyama—not dissimilar to how he won The Players Championship earlier this season, when he shot an 8-under 64 to win at TPC Sawgrass.
But five months later, Scheffler proved why he is the best in the world once again, adding a gold medal to his office, which will sit alongside the Green Jacket, The Players trophy and four Signature Event titles.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
