Gold marks the spot for Xander Schauffele.
The 27-year-old American birdied three of his first five holes to build as many as a four-stroke lead and made a late birdie to hang on to win the men’s individual stroke play competition at the Tokyo Olympics.
Schauffele closed with a final-round 4-under 67 at the East Course at Kasumigaseki Country Club, in Saitama, Japan, about 35 miles northwest of downtown Tokyo, for a 72-hole total of 18-under 266 and a one-stroke victory over Slovakia’s Rory Sabbatini.
Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama, the first Asian to win the Masters, had his chance to win gold in his homeland. Trailing by one stroke entering the final day, he fell as many as five strokes back during the front nine but didn’t go down without a fight closing to within one stroke of the lead late in the round. But his putter let him down and he settled for shooting 2-under 69, good for 15-under 269, and a seven-way playoff for the bronze medal.
Schauffele overcame a jittery passage when he flared his tee shot at the par-5 14thhole, had to take a penalty for an unplayable, but salvaged a bogey. It dropped him back into a tie with Sabbatini, who erased a seven-stroke deficit heading into the final round with an Olympics 18-hole scoring record of 10-under 61. Sabbatini holed out for an eagle 2 at No. 6 and made 10 birdies, including finishing with birdies at 17 and 18.
Schauffele, who was 0-for-4 when holding the 54-hole lead and was winless on the PGA Tour since the 2019 Sentry Tournament of Champions, said earlier this season that he had choked when he had opportunities to win. This time, he made a birdie at the drivable 17th hole, getting up and down from the front greenside bunker, and scrambling for par at the last to end his winless drought.
Schauffele’s father and swing coach, Stefan, had his Olympic decathlon dreams shattered when a drunk driver hit his vehicle head on and blinded him in his left eye.
“He was supposed to make the team, but who knows,” Schauffele said.
After an opening 68, he surged into the lead in the second round with an 8-under 63. Schauffele birdied the 18th hole of his third round to claim a one-streak lead through 54 holes.
With his father of German-French descent and mother born in Chinese Taipei born and raised in Japan, Schauffele credits his upbringing with giving him a resilient mentality, saying: “I always felt I was mentally tougher than the other kids.”
He proved his mettle with a hard-working closing par to claim Olympic gold, the first American to do so in golf since Charles Sands in 1900.
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