When it comes to the Olympics, the fight is considered more important than the triumph. But often, it is the competitor who fights hardest wearing the gold medal in the end.

On Sunday at Le Golf National, that person was Scottie Scheffler, who, as he’s frequently done, made the fight look effortless, knocking down flags and rolling in birdie putt after birdie putt — finally — to the tune of 9-under 62. Scheffler’s back nine, a 6-under 29 on the more demanding half of this championship layout, was especially brilliant, and as Scheffler walked to scoring with the clubhouse lead, two threesomes still on the course, his dad, Scott, gave his son a quick hug and told him to, “Go warm up.”

Oh, the irony.

The world No. 1 Scheffler has been blistering hot for months, winning six times, including a second green jacket, and only recently being overshadowed by Xander Schauffele, who clipped Scheffler for two major wins, at the PGA Championship and The Open Championship. The fact that it was Scheffler, and not Schauffele, that entered these Paris Games as the betting favorite to claim gold was telling enough; Scheffler was still the man to beat.

And though the flatstick did not cooperate early, Scheffler hung around, yielding putt-reading duties to his caddie, Ted Scott, midway through Friday’s second round and waiting for his moment to strike. With the leaders at arm’s length for much of the competition — four shots after Thursday, then five, then four — Scheffler nearly held on too long. Fiery Spaniard Jon Rahm came out running on Sunday, barreling through the first 10 holes with six birdies to speed four strokes clear of the field – and five of Scheffler. But Rahm suddenly imploded, all his momentum from a recent breakthrough LIV Golf victory and T-7 at Royal Troon seemingly extinguished in a matter of four holes.

Rahm three-putted the par-3 11th from 32 feet, then tugged a tee shot at the par-4 12th that led to a missed par save from 10 feet. Two holes later at the par-5 14th, the rare reprieve on Le Golf National’s closing nine, Rahm had to lay up just 92 yards after finding a juicy lie off the tee, and his 4-footer for bogey didn’t fall, capping a four-hole stretch of 4-over golf that saw Rahm go from a comfortable lead to a shot off the podium.

“I’ve been saying all week that I would know how much this means when the tournament was over,” Rahm said afterward. “Sometimes you know when you win, but you definitely know when you don’t win it, and this just stings on a different emotional level. Hurts right now more than I expected. It’s hard to let my country down in that way; had it under control and just let it go.”

Rahm’s stunning collapse coincided with a similar flop from the reigning gold medalist, Schauffele, who played his final seven holes in 4 over to shoot 73 and slip from medal contention to a T-9 finish.

Even Rory McIlroy, competing for Ireland, got himself on a tear, birdieing Nos. 10-14, only to derail his hopes of a medal by rinsing a sand wedge into the water at the par-4 15th. McIlroy would join Rahm in a share of fifth, two shots out of the bronze, which was claimed by Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama, who turned in a bogey-free 66 to finish at 17 under, a shot clear of France’s Victor Perez (63) — atonement after falling in a seven-way playoff for bronze three years ago in Tokyo.

“I feel like I've been golf's Nearly Man for the last three years,” said McIlroy, whose close call only adds to a long list for him — and just a few weeks removed from his most recent major heartbreak, at Pinehurst. “I obviously want that tide to turn and go from the Nearly Man to back to winning golf tournaments.”

As for golf’s Nearly Perfect Man, Scheffler has a hard time not winning.

When Scheffler saw Rahm push to 20 under, he admittedly was unsure if he was still in contention for gold. He’d just birdied Nos. 10 and 12, but he also let an easy birdie slip away at the par-5 ninth, his sixth straight par after a birdie-birdie-birdie start. Scheffler was unusually aggravated at times this week, none more so than now, “just watching great players fly up the leaderboard … getting further and further away from me.” Staying patient and waiting for his putter to get hot suddenly turned into doing anything he could to make birdies.

With the leaders starting to take blow after blow, Scheffler, bolstered by an underrated par save a hole earlier, carded an easy birdie at the par-5 14th and then nearly holed a wedge at the next before tapping in for another birdie. Birdie makes from 7 feet and 17 feet, respectively, followed, the latter igniting an inspired crowd gathered around the penultimate green. As Scheffler muscled a towering approach from the rough to about 30 feet at the last — he gained a field-best 10.26 shots on approach over the four days — and two-putted for a closing par and course record-tying 62, Great Britain’s Tommy Fleetwood, the last of Scheffler’s challengers standing, was a couple holes back, stuffing a tee shot and rolling in a 9-foot birdie putt.

Though much of the course was softened by rain and little wind, Le Golf National’s final four holes were still brutes, accounting for three of the four most difficult, including the toughest (No. 18, +0.43) and second toughest (No. 17, +0.22).

Scheffler played that stretch in a combined 5 under for the week, with just a single bogey.

Fleetwood did so in just even par. His bogey at the par-4 17th, where he flew the green from the rough and then chipped 22 feet past the hole, knocked him back to 18 under, where he’d finish after a nervy 6-foot par save at the last to secure the silver medal.

“I've certainly loved that back nine — well, the whole of today but the back nine, in contention, playing very, very well,” Fleetwood said. “The leaderboard changed quite a bit, and it was amazing to be a part of.”

“I know I didn't win gold today,” Fleetwood added, still proud of his accomplishment, “and a very good golfer did.”

Scheffler ascended onto the tallest portion of the medal stand as just the third individual American male to capture gold so far at these Paris Games, joining skeet shooter Vincent Hancock and shot-putter Ryan Crouser. Having just fought like hell, a physically exhausted Scheffler was about to be emotionally drained as well.

Golf medal around his neck and right hand over his heart, Scheffler sobbed as the Star-Spangled Banner played over the loudspeakers.

“It’s emotional sitting there on the podium and hearing your national anthem, it really is,” said Scheffler, a serial crier who admitted to similar emotions the other night while watching Americans Simone Biles and Suni Lee receive their all-around gymnastics medals.

“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.”

Not one to rank accomplishments, Scheffler shrugged off what winning gold would do for the 28-year-old’s legacy. The medal wouldn’t even be the most important thing he held on Sunday evening; Scheffler’s newborn son, Bennett, not even 3 months old but already learning how to smile on his first European trip, bounced in his dad’s left arm while the Schefflers — Scottie’s wife, Meredith, and parents, Scott and Diane, included — posed for family photos in front of the Olympic rings.

“I'm just out here competing,” Scheffler said, “and trying to stay present, and working as hard as I can, and trying to get the most out of myself.”

It really is more about the fight than the triumph.