KAWAGO, Japan: Xander Schöfel won an Olympic gold medal on Sunday by overcoming more pressure than he had imagined.
Just as Schöffel appeared to be losing his strong hold on gold, the 27-year-old American finally responded for 4-under 67 with two clutch puts and a one-shot win over Slovakia’s Rory Sabbatini to a wild end.
There was a 6-foot birdie putt for a lead. There was a 4-foot par put for the last win.
The tension made the hot air at Kasumigaseki Country Club feel even thicker. When the final group moved to the 18th green, nine players remained in the mix for the medals.
One of them was Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama, not just the medal his golf-mad country wanted for him. He was out of the lead when he missed a 3-foot par putt on the 15th hole and was never caught. He missed a 12-foot birdie put on the 18th hole for the bronze.
And then he left without any medals.
Matsuyama was part of a seven-man playoff for bronze, which featured Rory McIlroy and British Open champion Colin Morikawa. Matsuyama bogeyed the first extra hole and was eliminated, ending a week of high expectations. Taiwan’s CT Pan, who closed with 63, won bronze in the playoffs between seven nations that lasted four holes.
Schöffele, whose mother was raised in Japan and has grandparents in the city, who were barred from seeing her under an audience ban, seems to have won it all.
Sabbatini set an Olympic record with a fist-pumping birdie on the 18th hole with 61 runs. This put him one shot behind Schauffele, who still had two good scoring chances on the last nine out of six holes ahead of him.
And then one swing changed everything. Schauffel sent his tee shot to the par-5 14th and just right of the fairway into the bushes. He only had to take a one-shot penalty for being dismissed, took three more shots to reach the green, and made a 5-foot put to limit the damage to a bogey. He tied for the lead, with Matsuyama a shot behind.
Schöffel kept his California cool and hit the driver on the 17th hole in a greenside bunker, where the tees were pushed forward to generate some excitement. He blasted 6 feet and made a birdie to take the lead.
Schöffle sent another drive to the right on 18, getting a good kick that was rough but blocked by trees, forcing him to be short of water. From a distance of 98 yards, he hit a lobe wedge about 15 feet behind the pin and saw it spin up to 4 feet. He felt more relieved than he was after the putt was dropped. This was his first win since January 2019.
The Sabbatini had much to please with silver. Born in South Africa, he decided to become a Slovakian in late 2018 through his wife Martina, a relative of whom was running the small Slovak Golf Federation. His wife caddied for him this week.
United States Golf Association
FAIRFIELD, Conn.: Annika Sorenstam ran away with the US Senior Women’s Open on Sunday, finishing with 4-under 68 for an eight-stroke victory.
A three-time US Women’s Open champion, 50-year-old Sorenstam made her first appearance in the senior event, finishing 12-under 276 at Brooklyn Country Club.
Partner and fellow Swede Liselote Neumann was second with a shooting of 74. She won the 1988 US Women’s Open to become the first Swedish major champion.
At the opening ceremony, 2018 winner Laura Davis was third at 3 under, behind 71.
The European Solheim Cup was captained by Caitriona Mathieu (74) and Yuko Saito (72) under 2.
European Tour / LPGA Tour / Women’s European Tour
BALLYMENA, Northern Ireland: Daniel Gavins of England won her maiden European Tour title at the World Invitational by overcoming a seven-shot deficit, and Thailand’s Pajari Annarukarn recovered from a triple bogey to take the women’s tournament into the playoffs.
Gavins finished at 13-under with a 5-under 65. Compatriot David Horsey (72) held a portion of the lead until he lost a ball after a wild tee shot at number 18 and trailed a shot in seconds.
Annarukarn (70) overcame a triple bogey on the sixth hole and tied American Emma Talley (70) on the second hole of the playoffs. They are under 16. ended on
Other Tours
Yuri Yoshida finished the Japan LPGA’s Rakuten Super Ladies 6-under 66 for a three-stroke victory. She finished under 18 at the Tokyo Grand Oak in Hyogo. Mamiko Higa and Sayaka Takahashi finished second. … Oh Ji-hyeon shoots 4-under 68 for a three-stroke victory at the Korean LPGA Jeju Samadasu Masters. She finished at 17 under at Vooridul. Jungmin Hong finished second.
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