After The Gold Rush: Nelly Korda Is The World’s Best — Right Now

It was one heckuva battle with China but by time the Olympic Games ended in Tokyo — the Gold Count had 39 for the U.S. and 38 for China — thank-you Nelly Korda and Xander Schauffele for those two Gold Medals in the golf competition.

The U.S. ran away with the total medal count — 113 to 88 with China a distant second.  But golfers will remember these games as the first Gold Medals for U.S. players in the modern era.

Schauffele won his Gold with an amazing par save at the 72nd hole a week ago then Korda came through with a one-shot victory on Saturday for hers.

It was a great win for Schauffele.  He needed one.  He hasn’t won in 2021.  He finished second at the Famers and Waste Management and was third at The Masters.  He’s a money machine on the PGA Tour but is short on victories.

You see Gold Medals left-and-right with U.S. athletes but around the rest of the world, a Gold Medal is a huge deal.  It sure looked good around Xander’s neck.

As for Korda, at this moment, she’s the most dominant player on the planet, male or female.  She’s the world’s No. 1 and has won three of her last four individual events.

And it was her medal and Xander’s that helped get the U.S. on track to edge China by one in that Gold Count.  Five years ago, all that came out of the men’s and women’s competition was a single Bronze won by Matt Kooch The Caddie Mooch Kuchar.

Korda was up against a formidable South Korean contingent and in the end, it was Japanese star Mone Inomi who came the closest to her.  A bogey at the 72nd hole by Inomi sent her into a playoff with Lydia Ko for the Silver, where Inomi prevailed.

Korda’s sister Jessica looked more excited than Nelly on Saturday.  Jessica was shedding tears as the Star Spangled Banner played and the American flag was raised as Nelly wore the Gold around her neck.  “This is just kind of like almost legend status as a golfer, period, male or female,”  Jessica said.  “It’s tough to win out here and she makes it look easy, but those girls are good. So for her to be doing, it’s insane to me. This is like total GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) status to me.”

As for Nelly, she found some words after the win.  “With sports it’s so different because you’re constantly looking ahead for your next event,” Korda said. “It never really gets to kind of sink in.  But when I do look back, it’s just crazy.”

The best women’s players showed up and the ladies were more excited than the men.

But the Olympic-mania began to spread and even Rory McIlroy, who entered the games with a skeptical attitude, got caught up in the excitement.  “I’ve never played so hard to try and finish third in my life,” said McIlroy, who was in the seven-way playoff for the men’s Bronze.

As for Schauffele, he had a bit of an Olympic hangover in Memphis at the WGC-St. Jude where he finished tied for 46th, finishing even par on Sunday.  But he was quick to notice and compliment Nelly for her win.

“It was just really cool,  I’m sure she’s feeling great and there was extra pressure with her being No. 1 in the world,” Schauffele said of his co-Gold Medalist.  “So for her to top it off with a gold medal is probably pretty sweet.”

Pretty sweet for both of them.

Final Olympic Medal Count: