An emotional Scottie Scheffler burst into tears after capturing an Olympic gold medal in Paris on Sunday.
Scheffler continued his rollercoaster year by winning the Olympic golf tournament less than three months since he was infamously arrested while making his way into the PGA Championship in Kentucky.
The current world No 1 got the better of a dramatic battle with Britain’s Tommy Fleetwood to get his hands on the gold, with a late barrage of birdies meaning he prevailed with a course record-tying 62.
And as he stood on the podium on Sunday, Scheffler broke down in tears while the American national anthem played out to mark his victory.
His wife Meredith was also captured celebrating in the crowd with their son Bennett, who was born a week before his dad’s arrest at the PGA Championship.
An emotional Scottie Scheffler burst into tears after capturing an Olympic gold medal in Paris
After finishing on -19, Scheffler was left anxiously waiting to discover if Fleetwood would match his score and force a playoff hole.
When the Brit failed to pull out a final-hole birdie which would have done so, Scheffler could be seen celebrating on the range with caddie Ted Scott after becoming an Olympic champion.
Fleetwood was forced to settle for silver in France, while Hideki Matsuyama made up the top three with the Japanese star shooting a final-round 65 to clinch a bronze medal on -17.
Meanwhile Spain’s Jon Rahm blew a sizeable lead heading into the back nine after dropping six shots to fall outside of the medal places.
The victory means Scheffler becomes the first ever world No 1 to capture Olympic gold while holding the top spot.
Scheffler continued his rollercoaster year by winning the Olympic golf tournament
He charged to the front on Sunday with four straight birdies down the stretch, none bigger than gouging a shot out of deep rough on the 17th hole and making the 18-foot birdie putt to take the lead for the first time all day.
The two-time Masters champion set an Olympic record for 72 holes at 19-under 265. Fleetwood, who fell out of the lead with a bogey from the rough on the 17th, got up-and-down for par on the final hole for a 66 to win the silver medal.
Scheffler becomes the second straight American to win gold in men’s golf, following Xander Schauffele in the Tokyo Games.
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