Tommy Fleetwood, Hideki Matsuyama savor Paris Olympic podium moments

Tommy Fleetwood never dreamt that he’d become an Olympic medalist. It’s understandable, considering golf wasn’t an Olympic sport during Fleetwood’s upbringing in Southport, England. The four majors, the Ryder Cup, and season-long titles were the stuff of dreams.

Fleetwood is here now though, an Olympic silver medalist, and he relished the moment on the podium Sunday at the men’s Olympic golf competition. He proudly shared the stage with gold medalist Scottie Scheffler (USA) and bronze medalist Hideki Matsuyama (Japan), wrestling with the duality of losing to Scheffler by a shot but also contributing to Great Britain’s medal tally. It’s a duality not seen often in professional golf – once every four years, to be exact.

There were bittersweet vibes for Fleetwood, who shared the lead with two holes to play Sunday at Le Golf National but flew his second shot just over the green at the tough par-4 17th and was unable to get up and down, leading to a costly bogey. He needed to birdie the 72nd hole to force a playoff with Scheffler for the gold medal, but his second shot from the intermediate rough, 195 yards away, again flew past the green and his birdie chip slid past the hole.

Fleetwood, 33, converted the 6-footer for par to earn the silver medal, avoiding a playoff with Matsuyama, who had carded 6-under 65 in the group prior. Fleetwood closed in 5-under 66, the only medalist to emerge from the final threesome that also included Jon Rahm – who led by four on the final nine but played his final eight holes in 5 over – and 2021 gold medalist Xander Schauffele, who played his last seven in 4 over.