KAWAGOE, Japan (AP) – Xander Schauffele won the Olympic gold medal he wanted so badly on Sunday after overcoming more pressure than he could have imagined.
Just when it seemed like he had lost his chance of winning gold, the 27-year-old American made a decisive pair of putts for a card of 67, four under par, one shot less than the Slovakian Rory Sabbatini in a thrilling final of the men’s tournament. .
One was a 6-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole that gave him the advantage. The other, a 4-foot par at the last flag, sealed his triumph.
“Just in shock,” Schauffele said. “I was trying really hard to stay calm… But, man, that was stressful. I made that putt and it lifted a huge weight off my shoulders and I was very relieved and happy. “
Sabbatini set a new Olympic record with 61 strokes and claimed silver.
The tension made the warm air even thicker in the Kasumigaseki Country Club. When the last group headed to the 18th green, nine players had a chance to get on the podium.
One of them was the champion of the Augusta Masters, Hideki Matsuyama, although he was not fighting for the medal that his country so desired for him. He was one shot behind the leader when he missed a 3-foot par put on the 15th hole and never made a comeback. He then missed a 12-foot birdie putt last in the fight for bronze.
In fact, he was left without an Olympic medal.
Matsuyama was one of seven golfers to play the bronze tiebreaker, alongside Irishman Rory McIlroy and British Open champion Collin Morikawa, among others. Matsuyama bogeyed the first extra hole and was out.
Taiwanese CT Pan, who closed with a 63-stroke card, took bronze after a seven-country playoff that lasted four holes.
Matsuyama and Paul Casey were knocked out by bogeys in the first. McIlroy, Chilean Mito Pereira and Colombian Sebastián Muñoz fell with pairs in the third. Pan made an 8-foot putt for par in 18 after Morikawa got stuck in the sand with his approach, forcing him to attempt a long putt for par that he failed to convert.
