The bronze was not hung on a whim of fate. Myth fought for the Olympic medal until the end of a historic day for national golf, and only the tiebreaker could cut the best week of his career. He fought for years to be in the elite and today he showed that he has the wood to continue for a long time leaving the national flag at the top. After four rounds of a heart-stopping playoff he said goodbye to Tokyo for a damn ball at this point.
The day was pure drama. From the start, each hole provoked sighs and anxiety, demonstrating that special aura that the Games have. It does not matter what time or when it hits us, when a Chilean plays a medal, the screens will always be on.
That is why it hurt to see how in the beginning I could not discount blows. There were many flags where nothing moved on the Chilean card, but where it did lose positions in front of the golfers who in the early hours of the day were already getting applause.
That caused the eagle of the eight to be greatly celebrated. It was one of those plays that mark the day, that make it clear that whoever makes them is a contender for everything. A discount that was worth gold, mainly because a bogey would arrive later. A duality that compromised the man from Santiago.
Today was a difficult round for Mito, but here not only the closing matters. Each round is a world unto itself and having added -11 in the first three, it was valuable oxygen for this heart-stopping day.
But that was not enough, and in the last nine holes he had to risk to stay alive. There the stellar level appeared that has it as one of the surprises of these Games. He nailed three birdies and with a tremendous -15 he secured his presence in a dramatic tiebreaker.
There were seven players who had to attack the 18th hole after the four rounds. There, each blow was followed with a magnifying glass, and with every minute that passed, more compatriots woke up to watch the Chilean’s performance. In the middle of the national morning, all the fans, and not so fanatics, followed Guillermo’s shots.
Morikawa, MclLroy, Matsuyama and Casey were some of his rivals. Stories totally different from those of the Chilean. All of them world figures, recognized all over the planet and with their houses full of trophies. Myth for his part with the illusion of writing his dream script. One where he would storm the PGA, get his first top ten, and get a taste of an Olympic medal in less than two months.
With all those emotions signed the pair in 18, like the other contenders who came out alive from one of the most difficult holes on the course. But there were no longer seven, there were only five left.
The next challenge was flag 10, one where Mito had achieved par in all four rounds of the tournament. Something that he repeated, although there he touched a birdie that would have earned him the medal. Nothing was defined and now there were only four survivors who had to go to hole 11 to continue the tiebreaker.
One where golf took the medal from him in the most cruel way. The ball rolled around the hole and whimsically said that the Olympic feat would not have a happy ending. Mito only reached par and could not get on a more than deserved podium. Anyway, Chile applauds. After Tokyo we can already say that there is a new national golf hero.
