Heartbreak for Team GB's Tommy Fleetwood as he is pipped to gold in Olympic golf by American Scottie Scheffler

4 August 2024, 16:40 | Updated: 4 August 2024, 17:37

Team GB golfer Tommy Fleetwood has been denied an Olympic gold medal after being beaten by a single shot by American world number one Scottie Scheffler.

Fleetwood had hoped to join Justin Rose as a Team GB gold medal-winning golfer - but will be forced to settle for silver.

But after Scheffler had carded a -19 clubhouse lead, Fleetwood dropped a shot which he could not make up on the tricky 18th hole at Le Golf National near Paris.

Southport-born Fleetwood's final score was -18 after four rounds of stroke play.

Fleetwood and Spain's Jon Rahm had gone into the final round as joint leaders - but were beaten by the imperious Scheffler, who finished the championship with a course-record 62 in the final round.

Scheffler and Fleetwood were joined on the podium by Japan's Hideki Matsuyama, who scored -17.

Scheffler has become only the fifth man to win an Olympic gold in golf - after the sports participation was scrapped after the 1904 Olympics in St Louis and reinstated for the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro.

The American has been head and shoulders above every other world golfer this year - winning the last two US Masters and the Players Championship and being named the PGA Tour Golfer of the Year twice.

The World Number One has now added Olympic gold to his stunning 18 month purple patch - taking the title from US teammate Xander Schauffele who carded an impressive -12 in Paris.