Rory Sabbatini of Slovakia – yes, Slovakia! – shoots Olympics 18-hole scoring record 61, wins silver

Rory Sabbatini celebrated with a fist pump on his birdie putt at 18 for an Olympics 18-hole scoring record of 61 at least three feet before it dropped.

His wife and caddie this week, Martina Stofanikova, was equally elated, lifting her arms to the sky, leaping and screaming, “Yes! Yes! Yes!”

It turned out he needed at least 60 as American Xander Schauffele edged him by a stroke for the gold medal. But what a round it was for the 45-year-old Sabbatini, the oldest competitor in the 60-man field, who was born in South Africa and represented Slovakia, the home country of his wife and stepson, in the Tokyo Summer Games.

Sabbatini, a six-time winner on the PGA Tour but without a triumph since the 2010 Honda Classic unless you count the 2019 Slovak Open, attained Slovakia citizenship via marriage to Stofanikova. Her cousin, Rastislav Antal, the current President of the Slovak Golf Association, suggested to Sabbatini that he could take advantage of a bylaw to Rule 41 of the Olympic Charter that allows athletes of dual citizenship to represent the nation of their choice.

As a result, Sabbatini wore a light blue golf shirt with Slovakia, a nation with only 9,000 registered golfers and 26 courses, printed in large red lettering on its back.

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Rory Sabbatini of Slovakia lines up a putt on the 16th hole during the final round of the men’s golf event at the 2020 Summer Olympics on Sunday, Aug. 1, 2021, in Kawagoe, Japan. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Sabbatini paired with Trevor Immelman to win the 2003 World Cup for South Africa and his shift in loyalty – he lives in South Florida, is a U.S. citizen who also holds a U.K. passport – has been ridiculed on social media channels, most notably by the Shotgun Start podcast, who dubbed him “the boy from Bratislava.” Sabbatini shrugged off any criticism and explained representing Slovakia as his way of doing his part to grow the game.

“We started this journey, four, five years ago, getting naturalized in Slovakia and designating them as my representation, but the sole purpose of it was to generate future generations of Slovak golfers. It’s not exactly the prime sport for kids to grow up want to go play in Slovakia, so hopefully we can inspire future owe Olympians and future professionals,” he said. “Hopefully this can add that little extra fuel on the fire.”

Sabbatini arrived early in Japan and stayed in the Olympic Village, and tabbed the experience “fabulous.”

“It’s been a great environment to be around all the Slovak athletes and the Olympic team and they have been very hospitable and welcoming and we have had a lot of fun in the team room,” he said on Friday. “Hopefully I’ll give them something to cheer about this weekend and inspire a few new golfers and maybe some desire to be future Olympians in the young girls and boys in Slovakia.”

According to Golf.com, after the Games, Sabbatini is flying to Slovakia, where he is scheduled to visit Trnaya Golf Club, about a 30-minute drive north of the capital city of Bratislava.

He’ll be able to recount arguably the round of his career. Trailing by seven strokes to start the final round, he made 10 birdies and an eagle to offset two bogeys in shooting 10-under 61 at the East Course at Kasumigaseki Country Club, in Saitama, Japan, about 35 miles northwest of downtown Tokyo.

“I kept just trying to remind myself, OK, don’t think ahead, don’t think ahead, just enjoy the moment that you’re in because you don’t know what it’s going to end, just enjoy every hole as it comes,” he said. “It just seemed like every time I kind of had a hiccup out there I was like, oh, maybe this is the end of the run, but OK. And then all of a sudden I kicked back into gear. So it was a lot of fun and it was just one of those rare days that you have on the golf course.”

Sabbatini was the clubhouse leader at 17-under 267 until Schauffele broke the tie with a birdie at 17 and scrambled for par. Still, it’s silver for Slovakia and a record round that won’t soon be forgotten.

“Somehow found that golden egg today and I managed to get something achieved which I didn’t was possible after yesterday,” Sabbatini said.