Justin Rose wins gold in men's golf with 18th-hole birdie
Tournament comes to dramatic end as last pairing tied on final green
EDITOR'S NOTE: Relive the action from the golf events at Rio 2016 on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. ET on Olympic Games Replay.
By Pete Evans, CBC Sports
Great Britain's Justin Rose won the gold medal in men's golf at the Rio Olympics Sunday, beating Sweden's Henrik Stenson with a birdie on the final hole.
Rose came in to the day with a one-stroke lead, but on the 18th tee found himself tied with Stenson, won won the British Open earlier this summer and was playing alongside Rose in the final Olympic pairing.
Rose came up big with a 40-yard pitch to three feet that set him up for an easy birdie and a 4-under 67 in the final round. Stenson bogeyed the hole, giving the Briton a two-shot win that made him the first gold-medal winner in Olympic golf in 112 years.
Rose finished 16 strokes under par. Stenson finished at 14-under.
"The reality is incredible. The reality hasn't sunk in," Rose said. "The whole week, I've been so focused. I've been so into it. I've been up for it. I've been just so determined, I suppose, to represent team GB as best as I could. And it was just the most magical week."
Matt Kuchar of the U.S. took the bronze with a bogey-free final-round 63 that took him to 13-under.
"I can't explain the pride to you that's just busting out of my chest," Kuchar said.
Two Canadians were also in action, but both finished well out of medal positions.
Graham DeLaet finished in 20th place at 4-under, and his compatriot David Hearn finished in 30th place at 1-under.
Congrats to <a href="https://twitter.com/JustinRose99">@JustinRose99</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/henrikstenson">@henrikstenson</a> and Kuchar for winning gold, silver and bronze! Well done guys! So proud to be a golfer!!
—@TheSergioGarciaRose's tournament got off to an auspicious start on Thursday when he fired the first hole-in-one in Olympic golf history on the fourth hole.
The women's tournament kicks off next week, when Canadians Brooke Henderson and Alena Sharp will be trying to win a medal.
Need to wish the ladies best of luck next week as well. Quick team selfie with a couple gold medal hopefuls. 🇨🇦 <a href="https://t.co/SYi5yTdg5M">pic.twitter.com/SYi5yTdg5M</a>
—@GrahamDeLaetGolf is making its first Olympic appearance since the 1904 Games, when Canadian George Lyon won gold against a field of mostly U.S. amateurs.
Golf organizations lobbied hard to get the sport back into the Olympics, only for some of the biggest stars — including the top four in the world — to withdraw in the month leading up to the Rio Games for reasons that ranged from fears over the Zika virus to security.
With files from The Associated Press