Here's why Scheffler and Matsuyama made money at Olympics but Fleetwood did not

Scottie Scheffler and Hideki Matsuyama not only captured gold and bronze medals at the 2024 Olympic Golf Tournament at Le Golf National on Sunday, but they also topped up their bank balance. Not by much though. 

Only there was nothing in the pot for silver medalist Tommy Fleetwood.

Scheffler and Matsuyama earned some extra cash for their week's efforts in Paris as a result of United States and Japan putting money up for their athletes at the Olympic Games. 

Great Britain decided against it though, which meant Fleetwood left empty-handed. 

Fleetwood did not care a greal though as he expressed standing on the podium marked one of his proudest ever days as a pro golfer. 

A number of the world's biggest stars alluded to the fact the Olympic Golf Tournament is up there with a Ryder Cup in the sense players are solely representing their nation with pride and without a chunky pay packet on the line. 

In total, 14 countries have put money up for their athletes at the Games. 

The money is the same for both men and women, but payouts vary from country to country.

As you will see from the list at the bottom of the page, a number of countries have put up substantial rewards for their athletes. 

Scroll below to see how much money each nation has put up for Olympic medals...

Scheffler landed a seventh win of the season following a stunning final-round 62 and he took home the gold medal on his Olympic debut.

The runaway World No.1 did not pick up big bucks for the win like he would normally do on the PGA Tour, though.

Scheffler, who finished 19-under par, was awarded $38,000 by the US Olympic Committee. 

Pocket change you could say for him given he has amassed just shy of $30m in on-course earnings on the PGA Tour so far in 2024. 

He also holds the lead in the season-long FedEx Cup, where the winner at East Lake on 1 September will collect a whopping $25m.

Scheffler was reduced to tears on the podium as the United States national anthem played out on the 18th green.

Fleetwood finished one shot back in second on 18-under par to take home the silver medal, but as we say he earned nothing for the feat as the Great British Olympic Committee put up zero money for their athletes. 

Matsuyama was a further shot back in third on 17-under par and the Japanese collected the bronze medal and a small sum of $6,000.

Spain's Jon Rahm blew a four-shot lead with eight holes to play and ended up without a medal after finishing four shots back in T5 alongside Rory McIlroy, who represented Ireland. 

Rahm played the last eight holes in 5-over par.

The LIV Golf star would have earned $102,000 had he won the gold medal.

Rahm would have even picked up $52,000 for silver and $33,000 for bronze.

Ireland, like GB, offer no money for their athletes.

Golf Channel's Brandel Chamblee labelled Rahm's back-nine collapse at the Olympics as "one of the biggest chokes of the season". 

Rahm revealed his distraught after the round. 

GolfMagic ran live updates of the Olympic Golf Tournament.

South Korea's Tom Kim was playing for more than just medals and money, however, as he needed a gold, silver or bronze to avoid military service, which lasts a minimum of 18 months..

Kim can still avoid military service if he can win a medal at the 2026 Asian Games, where he will likely be one of the favourites should he decide to tee it up there at Aichi and Nagoya.

He will also get another shot at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. 

A gold medal for a South Korean athlete at the Games is worth $45,000. 

Scroll below to see how much money each nation was putting up for medals...

How much they earned at the 2024 Men's Olympic Golf Tournament

Gold: Scottie Scheffler (United States) - $38,000

Silver: Tommy Fleetwood (Great Britain) - nothing 

Bronze: Hideki Matsuyama (Japan) - $6,000

Scroll down to see how much nations are awarding athletes at the Games...

How much countries are distributing for medals at the 2024 Olympic Games

Hong Kong: Gold – $768,000; Silver – $384,000; Bronze – $192,000
Singapore: Gold – $745,000; Silver – ; Bronze – $186,000
Indonesia: Gold – $300,000; Silver – $150,000; Bronze – $60,000
Israel: Gold – $271,000; Silver – $216,000; Bronze – $135,000
Republic of Kazakhstan: Gold – $250,000; Silver – $150,000; Bronze – $75,000
Malaysia: Gold – $216,000; Silver – $65,000; Bronze – $22,000
Spain: Gold – $102,000; Silver – $52,000; Bronze – $33,000
France: Gold – $87,000; Silver – $43,000; Bronze – $22,000
South Korea: Gold – $45,000; Silver – $25,000; Bronze – $18,000
United States: Gold – $38,000; Silver – $23,000; Bronze – $15,000
Japan: Gold – $32,000; Silver – $13,000; Bronze – $6,000
Poland: Gold – $25,000; Silver – $19,000; Bronze – $14,000
Germany: Gold – $22,000; Silver – $16,000; Bronze – $11,000
Australia: Gold – $13,000; Silver – $10,000; Bronze – $7,000

Next Page: Rory McIlroy calls the game of golf a 's*** show' after missing out on Olympic medal

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