“What was the point of him going to Paris anyway?” – PGA Tour pro takes sarcastic jibe at criticism on Scottie Scheffler’s low payday at Olympics
Scottie Scheffler won gold at the 2024 Olympics in Paris on Sunday morning. The World No. 1 golfer put up a stunning final round (nine under par) to snatch the victory and earn his first medal.
There is also prize money to be won by gold medalists, but it's very little.
One writer on X sarcastically joked that Scheffler's winnings, which total the $38,000 that the US gives all gold medalists for their performances, mean he's "finally" able to win some money this season. He has in fact made a ton of money this year. This comes after some observers criticized the relatively low income of such a tournament-winner.
"The U.S. pays Olympians $38,000 for winning gold so *finally* Scottie Scheffler is going to make a little bit of dough for his efforts this season."
PGA Tour pro Michael Kim joined in on the joke, positing that without FedEx Cup points available, there was no reason for Scheffler to attend the Olympics in the first place.
"Yeah but no FedEx Cup points. I mean what was the point of him going to Paris anyway?"
The money one makes from medaling in the Olympics, even from a wealthy nation like the United States, is not very much and that has always been the case. It's also heavily taxed, so there's not a huge financial reason for athletes going to compete.
Nevertheless, Scheffler has earned a lot of money this year. He has won so much that he can certainly afford to play for such a low prize at the Olympics.
Scottie Scheffler's performance in the gold medal-winning round
Scottie Scheffler trailed by four shots at the beginning of the fourth round. He'd spent much of the first three rounds near but not at the top of the leaderboard.
The World No. 1 eventually turned it on, particularly in the back nine. He shot -9 overall to lower his score to -19, an Olympic record.
When Tommy Fleetwood bogeyed the 17th and made par on the 18th, Scheffler's total stood as the single lowest for 18 holes in Olympic golf history and earned him a gold medal. He later said (via ESPN):
"It's been a long week. It's been a challenging week. I played some great golf today, and I'm proud to be going home with a medal. These guys played tremendous golf, and I think we should all be proud of the golf that we played this week."
The previous record was Xander Schauffele's at -17 under, so both Scheffler and Fleetwood broke that record. Hideki Matsuyama, the bronze medal winner, also tied that record.
Jon Rahm faltered down the stretch, but he is mainly who Scheffler was chasing for so long. He acknowledged that he saw Rahm's score drop to -20 and had to change his mentality to move up the leaderboard. He also said that he didn't even know if he was really in contention, but attempted to start making birdies and getting closer.