Visibly shaken and with his gaze fixed on the ground at times, but professional as ever, Jon Rahm addressed the thousands of fans who supported him from Spain during these four days of golf: “I’m disappointed, this ending has been very painful, and it bothers me even more because of all the support I received from Spain, both on and off the course. I wanted to give them that joy, but it wasn’t to be.”.

The adjective "painful" was repeated several times during his appearance before the media. Jon didn't hide the fact that, although he never saw the medal as a sure thing, he did see it there, within reach with that -20 on the 10th hole. "With how well I had played, to think about not having any chance at the end... It's hard to think about, to be honest," he said, his voice breaking.

The key? Contrary to what some might think, it wasn't the bogeys on the 11th and 12th; for the Basque golfer, it was the double bogey on the 14th. “The problem was more the third shot on that hole. There are things you just can't do on this course. That cost me two strokes. If I had made par there, I would have a chance of reaching the final holes in good shape, but…,” sighed the player from Barrika, trying to understand what had happened in that stretch.

Jon admitted that he suffered a mental blackout after the 14th hole, and it took its toll on the 15th, which he finished with a par, and even on the 16th, which he finished with a birdie. But despite everything, he continued fighting for a medal, even knowing that the gold was slipping away.

Perhaps speaking more to himself than to the media, Jon Rahm has repeated that "you learn from everything," but has concluded that recovering from what happened in that final stretch at Golf National is going to cost him "quite a bit more" than on other occasions.

Despite everything—the disappointment and the pain that has been so openly displayed, always within the context of sport—Jon Rahm has left two positive notes: his desire to be in Los Angeles in four years—while making it clear that “there’s still a lot to do until then”—and the positive outcome of his week and the positive things it has brought him. “As hard as it is for me to think about it right now,” the Spanish champion almost whispered in his bittersweet farewell to his first Olympic Games.

David Puig, penalized “for being aggressive until the end”

“I had to be aggressive from the first hole, and that has penalized me,” lamented a remarkable David Puig all week… until on the 15th hole he was as brave as the situation required and paid for it with a painful 9.

The Catalan golfer revealed his strategy without hesitation: “to try to get as high up the leaderboard as possible, and to do that, I had to be aggressive.” He displayed an exceptional level of play for more than half the round, but the 15th hole proved to be a turning point, in this case, a negative one. David explained it clearly: “I had a bad tee shot, and the ball bounced rather badly. I went into the water, and from then on… the pin was short, and I had to continue being aggressive to save par and keep that momentum going. And I went into the water a couple more times.”.

With a face of evident resignation, David admitted to being “disappointed” with the ending, but that didn't diminish his appreciation for the experience he had in Paris. “I'm eager to come back in four years. Representing Spain is an honor, and I hope to have the chance to return. Being here is an honor; there's a lot of hard work behind getting here. I would have liked to have done better, but being here and sharing it with Jon has been a source of pride,” said David Puig, who just six months ago barely dreamed of competing in these Games and who has delivered a remarkably strong performance for much of them.

The champion's prediction: "Winning the gold medal is one of the reasons I'm here this week."“

Last Monday, Scottie Scheffele, the world number one and newly crowned Olympic champion, didn't mince words in his first appearance before the media at the Golf National press center. The American golfer, brimming with ambition, declared that "winning the gold medal is one of the reasons I'm here this week." Six days later, Scottie Scheffele has secured the third gold medal for the United States in men's golf, following those won by Charles Sands in Paris 1990 and Xander Schauffele in Tokyo 2020.

World number 1 and Olympic champion, a new historic milestone

It hadn't happened until now, but Scottie Scheffler's extraordinary performance in the final round of the tournament, culminating in a sensational nine-hole scorecard, has led the American to achieve a historic milestone in what has been a dream season. Indeed, Scheffler's goal was to become the first player with that distinction who also won an Olympic gold medal. And so he did. Scottie Scheffler, who arrived in Paris with an impressive record—no fewer than six victories throughout 2024, including The Masters—added this new notch to his belt: the Olympic gold.

The record for the lowest individual result is still held by Rory Sabbatini.

Denmark's Nicolai Højgaard and the United States' Scottie Scheffler both carded 62s in their third and fourth rounds, respectively—an impressive score that represents the second-lowest 18-hole round in Olympic history. They were surpassed only by the 61 of South African-Slovakian Rory Sabbatini, who went on to win the silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The best, where they belong.

Seven of the top fifteen golfers in the World Golf Ranking - Jon Rahm, Xander Schauffele, Tommy Fleetwood, Hideki Matsuyama, Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler and Ludvig Åberg - were among the top 10 in the standings at the end of the third round, highlighting why in the fourth and final round, with everyone separated by such a narrow margin, there have been so many changes at the top of the table.

The winners of Olympic golf

2024 – Paris

Men's competition: Gold: Scottie Scheffler (USA); Silver: Tommy Fleetwood (Great Britain); Bronze: Hideki Mitsuyama (Japan)

Women's competition: Held from August 7th to 10th

2020 – Tokyo

Men's competition: Gold: Xander Schauffele (USA); Silver: Rory Sabbatini (Slovakia); Bronze: CT Pan (Chinese Taipei)

Women's competition: Gold: Nelly Korda (USA); Silver: Mone Inami (Japan); Bronze: Lydia Ko (New Zealand)

2016 – Rio de Janeiro)

Men's competition: Gold: Justin Rose (Great Britain); Silver: Henrik Stenson (Sweden); Bronze: Matt Kuchar (USA)

Women's competition: Gold: Inbee Park (Korea); Silver: Lydia Ko (New Zealand); Bronze: Shanshan Feng (China)

1904 – St. Louis

Men's competition: Gold: George Lyon (Canada); Silver: Chandler Egan (USA); Bronze: Burt McKinnie (USA) and Francis Newton (USA)

Women's competition: not held

1900 – Paris

Men's competition: Gold: Charles Sands (USA); Silver: Walter Rutherford (Great Britain); Bronze: David Robertson (Great Britain)

Women's competition: Gold: Margaret Abbott (USA); Silver: Pauline Whittier (USA); Bronze: Daria Pratt (USA)