Rose had been vocal about his disappointment in his rivals – such as Rory McIlroy and Jason Day – for turning down the opportunity to help grow the sport on the global stage due to fears of the Zika virus, but he had the final laugh by taking gold in Rio.
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Stenson’s delightful wedge on 16 put the Swede to within five feet of the pin – seemingly rattling Rose, who chunked his approach – to allow him to tie the lead at 15-under-par.
Rose, who struck the first hole in one of Rio just days ago, wins golf’s first gold medal since 1904 and Great Britain’s 12 of the summer.
Rose shot a final round of 67 to finish 16 under par while Open champion Stenson claimed the silver medal, carding a 68.
A month after Stenson had won a thrilling duel with Phil Mickelson at Royal Troon, the Olympics also effectively became a match-play contest between two of the six major champions in the 60-man field.
The pair were all square heading in to the last, but Rose’s pitch from the 18th fairway left a close-range birdie as Stenson three-putted from the far side of the green.
Stenson then took the lead for the first time when Rose failed to get up and down from a greenside bunker on the 13th, but was struggling with an injury and received treatment from a physio after hitting his tee shot on the 14th.
Rose looked to have found a breakthrough on the 15th hole with another birdie but returned to par on the 16th.
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With the pair on 14 under, Kuchar moved a shot behind with a tap-in birdie at the 17th and narrowly missed out on another when his putt fell short at the last.
