Justin Rose of Great Britain, left, and Henrik Stenson of Sweden, shake hands after Rose won gold and Stenson won silver during the final round of the men’s golf event at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday, Aug. 14, 2016.
Advertisement
The duelling duo who had been locked together at the top of the leaderboard all afternoon were tied on 15 under par after 17 holes, but the Swede bogeyed the last while Rose sank a birdie putt to win by two shots.
“That felt better than anything I’ve ever won”.
Ku char, who only got into the U.S. team when Jordan Spieth withdrew before the Open and did not know there was no team competition until recently, said: “It’s the happiest I’ve ever been to finish third”.
“I have no regrets”. And he said to me a couple of days ago, ‘Right, Dad, I’ve got my medal. “The guys who didn’t come will probably have seen it and realised they should have come”.
“To be an Olympic medallist is even more special. It was the gift of a lifetime coming here”.
With numerous top players in the world including Rory McIlroy, Jason Day and Jordan Spieth choosing to sit it out, Rose’s commitment to the games has always been positive.
“It felt like a cross between a golf tournament and a carnival”, Rose said. “It was unique, incredible”.
Rory McIlroy watched the Olympic men’s golf competition after all, gold medalist Justin Rose has confirmed.
“I think it was a sell-out which is more than some of the other events I’m watching on TV where there’s been a lot of open spots in stadiums”, Rose added.
As the final putt fell into the cup, Rose thrust his fist into the air and popped the British crest on his shirt before turning to embrace Stenson.
The bogey wasn’t enough to take the silver away from Stenson. I’ve never seen that out of him before. “I had been holding it in all day”, Rose said. It just doesn’t come around next week and I’ll have another go. To come out with gold was unbelievable.
Matt Kuchar had earlier blitzed an eight-under 63, to equal the course record set by Marcus Fraser on day one. Neither would have been an Olympian had their top-four compatriots attended.
“My heart started pounding out of my chest”, Kuchar said. He still needs to sail that race before they put the medal around his neck, hoist the Union Jack and play “God Save the Queen” on Flamengo Beach, with Sugarloaf Mountain in the background. “The overwhelming sense of pride is just remarkable”. Playing across the South Africa-based Sunshine Tour, the Asian Tour and the European Tour, da Silva spent the better part of the last two years qualifying to represent his home country in this week’s Olympic tournament.
Rose held off Stenson over the front nine but Stenson birdied the 10th to leave them level.
Advertisement
By the afternoon, the grandstand at the 18 hole was near capacity, and the audience there welcomed the returning players with cheers – particularly when they holed tricky putts to close out their Olympics.
