When golf fans pick out their favourite event from the 2024, it seems highly likely that many will opt for the men’s tournament at the Olympic Games which saw Scottie Scheffler produce a stunning performance on Sunday to secure a gold medal.
Heading into 2024, there probably was not a lot of excitement amongst golf fans about the Olympic Games. The 2016 event had seen a host of big names pass up the opportunity to feature as golf returned for the first time in more than a century, while the potential was still not apparent in Tokyo five years later.
But that all changed at Le Golf National this past year. While there were some notable omissions from the field, it was still a star-studded lineup which saw the likes of Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm all battle it out for the medals.
Ultimately, it was the world number one who found himself atop the podium. Scheffler produced an astounding back nine on Sunday to win the gold medal. Meanwhile, Rahm managed to somehow throw away a four shot lead to miss out on the medals altogether.
Billy Foster shares what he got completely wrong about the Olympic Games
It has whet the appetite for 2028 in Los Angeles. And unsurprisingly, many golf fans have had to admit to being wrong about the sport being played at the Olympics. As it turns out, major-winning caddie Billy Foster was just like all of those who had their doubts about the event.
Speaking on The 19th Uncut, the man on Matthew Fitzpatrick’s bag admitted that his view of the event completely changed after being involved this year.
“In 2016, the Olympics was in Brazil, I couldn’t imagine anything worse. ‘Going to the Brazil for the Olympic Games, playing for no prize money and to finish fourth, caddie all week, don’t even get a bit of ribbon, the caddie doesn’t even get a medal. What are you going for? Waste of time’. Then they went to Japan, didn’t they, 2020. I’m like, ‘no, not bothered’,” he said.
“When I went there [to France], I thought I’m going to hate this. But I have to say there’s two tournaments where you don’t get paid, one’s the Ryder Cup, and the other one’s the Olympic Games, and you have to say, outside the majors if you ask any golfer what would they want to win, they want to represent their country in a Ryder Cup and they want to play in an Olympic Games.
“So I went there, it had a major feel. But I couldn’t believe how good it was. And every top player was on that leaderboard. Rory had a chance, Matsuyama came [third], Tommy was up there, Scottie Scheffler won it again, of course he did. Yeah, it was amazing. The atmosphere was incredible. Massive crowds, Paris National, fantastic golf course. The whole vibe of it was amazing. Honestly, I was really glad I went in the end.”
The potential golf now has in the Olympic Games after superb 2024 event
Not only has the Olympic Games immediately gained that credibility that it somewhat lacked in 2016 and 2021, but it has become even more special due to how often each Games come around.
Of course, it is not as special or as prestigious as the Masters or The Open Championship. But there are four chances to win a major every year, while there is one attempt to win an Olympic gold medal every four years. So the players are going to be desperate to do well in 2028.
And if that event can prove to be as successful as Paris this year, then the Olympics probably will become nearly as important to the best players as the four majors in that particular year.
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