Victor Perez leaves with no regrets, local star excels on the Olympic stage – Article

By Mathieu Wood

For Victor Perez, a medal was so close yet so far away. The Frenchman missed out on a coveted medal at the Olympics on home soil, but he left the National Golf Club with no regrets.

Perez took first-time honors during the week and thrilled the home crowd over the next 72 holes, especially in the final round on Sunday when he came within a whisker of a podium finish.

On the par-5 14th hole, an eagle appeared in front of the audience, and before that, two birdies were scored in succession, forming a wonderful scoring craze, which made the already lively atmosphere of the Albatros Golf Course even more heated.

After shooting a 16-under 63, all Perez could do was wait and hope the last group finished. Shortly after, Scottie Scheffler won the tournament with a course-record-tying 19-under 62.

The American was followed by world number one Tommy Fleetwood of Britain, who took silver, and Hideki Matsuyama of Japan, who took bronze.

“It was obviously a great tournament,” recalled Perez, who finished fourth while Spain's Jon Rahm made consecutive bogeys to tie for fifth with Ireland's Rory McIlroy. “I didn't think I hit any good shots on the back nine for sure, even on the front nine. I thought I played pretty good.”

Although his performance ultimately did not bring him a medal, the memories of Perez's Olympic debut will remain in his heart forever.

“Obviously, there’s an amphitheater at the end of holes 15 and 16, and there’s a crowd to the right of hole 18, and I think that’s what makes Le Golf National so special, because when the tournament gets to the end, that’s where the crowds gather,” he said.

“We saw this even more at the Ryder Cup, where the mounds and stands were packed, and even spectators on the first hole were trying to look toward the 18th hole, which was quite a distance away.

“The theater at the end creates a stadium-like atmosphere that we don’t get to experience very often, which I think we all enjoy, but we don’t often encounter when playing golf.”

Carrying the hopes of an entire country on his shoulders along with Matthew Pavon, three-time DP World Tour champion Perez performed brilliantly while his compatriot struggled to finish last in the 58-man field that finished all four rounds.

While Perez won a Rolex Series title on the DP World Tour and celebrated success in the home of golf, this was an experience he had never experienced before.

When asked if he was able to enjoy the game, he responded: “I would say I enjoyed it until I was 14, and once you make eagle 14, you're like, oh, s*am I really in it?”

As birdies and eagles rolled in, the crowd grew larger. The chants of “Winner, winner” grew louder and more frequent. From children to adults, the crowd cheered Perez on by singing several national anthems loudly and proudly.

Perez and partners Torbjörn Olsen and Christian Bezuidenhout made that noise as they approached the 17th green. Bezuidenhout knew what was happening, too, and the South African raised his arms, raising the volume even more.

He said: “I feel very lucky to be playing with Torbjorn and Christian today, they are good friends I have met on the tour, they have helped me a lot along the way and I have enjoyed the experience.”

“So yeah, it was great. I told them on the green before the match: ‘Guys, be aware, it might be a little noisy out there, there might be more photo ops.’ But they handled it really well, absolutely like gentlemen.”

Perez has played in all four Grand Slams and competes all over the world, but this past week may be difficult for him to surpass for some time.

He gained new fans, forged closer connections with old ones, but perhaps most importantly, he built a newfound confidence that would help take his game to new heights.