We have seen countless athletes stand atop the gold-medal podium at the 2024 Summer Olympics, listening to the anthem of their country and in some cases singing the words, but Scottie Scheffler (Titleist Pro V1) did something few others did. He openly wept.

That was pure Scheffler, the greatest golfer in the globe the past couple years, accomplishing yet another feat in his season of unparallelled brilliance. He has won seven times this year, highlighted by his victory in the Masters. Now he has an Olympic gold medal.

“When you go to a sporting event, you hear somebody in the stands singing the national anthem, it’s a pretty special thing to be a part of, and I think that’s something we take tremendous pride in,” he said afterwards. “It was just very emotional being up there on stage as the flag is being raised and sitting there singing the national anthem. Yes, that’s definitely one that I’ll remember for a long time.”

Golf has it own individual rewards for victory, a jacket and/or a trophy, but the Olympics has both the medal and the podium tradition to celebrate the achievement. Given that he had never been in the Olympics before, this was a first for Scheffler. While he is known as being stoic and almost unflappable at times, which is hard to believe because he once had a reputation for blowing his cool, seeing him weep added yet another facet to his fabulous lore.

What a year it has been professionally and personally for Scheffler. He won the most-coveted tournament in the sport, celebrated the birth of his first child, was arrested and thrown in jail and subsequently released and had the charges dropped, and gone through a stretch where he was virtually unbeatable. He has gone through so many experiences and emotions to be made into a movie. Now he adds Olympic gold to it.

Scheffler is a generational athlete, though he doesn’t have the personality or persona to match it. He is, to use a word, bland, but sometimes dull is good.

His Olympic win will be remembered as arguably his most significant achievement, starting four shots back of the lead heading into the final round and winning by one stroke after carding a nine-under par 62. England’s Tommy Fleetwood (TaylorMade TP5x) came second, the latest example of being a bridesmaid. Had he won it would have made for a greater story, to be honest, Former Masters winner Hideki Matsuyama (Srixon Z Star XV) finished two shots back in third. Rory McIlroy (TaylorMade TP5x) and Jon Rahm (Callaway Chrome Tour X) tied for fourth.

The golf world knows all about Scheffler, but his Olympic win may make him more known in the U.S. for people who don’t follow golf or know of him and what he’s done. Like I said, he is not flashy.

While the Olympics were once designed to celebrate amateur athletics in some sports that are rarely followed by the mainstream public, the inclusion of professional athletes has changed that. Yes, some athletes compete is sports that are not necessarily professional in nature, but the elite in track and field, for example, are paid to compete in events and receive endorsements that allow them to train year long without having to do another job.

Since golf returned to the Olympics in 2016 and professionals were included, it has given the sport an added outlet to showcase its competitors. But because it is played over four days and takes several hours each day, it does not receive the live and instant coverage of sports such as gymnastics, swimming, track and field and other sports in which the winners are decided rather quickly. And unless you are watching on a streaming service, you receive only snippets of what is happening. It’s not like following it on The Golf Channel and then a mainstream network.

So when Scheffler won, it was basically the end result without all the shot-by-shot drama. American viewers only saw the Star Spangled snapshot, but what a moment it was.

We’ve seen athletes from all parts of the world sing the national anthem upon victory in the Olympics, some meaning more than most because they come from a small country that rarely produces success on the world stage, they are from a part of the world under political attack or they’ve overcome the odds in one way or another.

Scheffler’s does not fit into any of those categories, but what he did in Paris and what he’s done all season collectively are worthy of a moment we all saw when he wept tears of joy.