Smylie Kaufman has claimed that Scottie Scheffler did something ‘crazy’ during the final eight holes at the Olympic Games, as he commented on the collapse of Jon Rahm at Le Golf National.
At one stage during the final round in Paris, golf fans would have been forgiven for thinking that the gold medal may as well be put around the neck of Jon Rahm, with the Spaniard four shots clear of the field.
However, Rahm ended up missing out on a spot on the podium, with the 29-year-old signing for a one under par round of 70 to finish in a tie for fifth with Rory McIlroy. Instead, a familiar face ended up flying through the field to stand tall.
Scottie Scheffler began Sunday four shots back of Rahm and Xander Schauffele. But after a fast start, he ended up forcing his way into the picture, before shooting a 29 for the back nine to tie the course record at Le Golf National.
Smylie Kaufman stunned by difference between Scottie Scheffler and Jon Rahm on back nine at the Olympics
Rahm himself labelled Scheffler’s round a joke. But it must have been a bit of a sickener for the LIV Golf star to miss out on winning a medal – particularly if he knew how many shots the world number one made up over the final holes of the tournament.
Speaking on The Smylie Show, Kaufman suggested that he was blown away by the difference in the scoring down the back nine.
“What’s kind of crazy when you look at the final eight holes of Scottie’s day and Jon Rahm’s day is that Scottie beat Jon Rahm by 10 shots on the last eight holes,” he said.
“That is alarming, I know anything can happen on this back nine, but it was probably the easiest that golf course is ever going to play. It’s soft greens, no wind, it’s very challenging, you have to have really good shots, but still, for Jon Rahm who’s already played, he’s got nine holes left in the tank and all he’s got to do is just not blow up pretty much and you’re going to be right there. It’s very shocking to see.”
Collapse could haunt Spaniard for some time
What happened to Rahm was particularly shocking, as he is not someone who you would associate with throwing a tournament in such spectacular fashion. It was as remarkable as Rory McIlroy managing to bogey three of the last four holes at the US Open.
Scheffler has had so much experience of winning this season. His brilliance, in hindsight, was completely predictable, and we should have realised a lot sooner what was happening. The 28-year-old simply does not make mistakes once he is in the groove.
But that back nine may haunt Rahm for some time – particularly as he now needs to wait another four years for another crack at winning an Olympic medal. You would think that he will also not be in a field with Scheffler again until The Masters next April.
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