You'll never believe where world #1 Scottie Scheffler spent his afternoon off ahead of the 2024 Olympic golf tournament...watching table tennis?! Our guy Scottie seemed to think his recreational gym room ping pong skills made him some kind of elite player, but one exhibition match at the Olympics was all it took to burst that bubble.
According to our guy Scheffler himself, he thought the ping pong we see in team rooms and clubhouses was "at one time elite." But after seeing South Korean sensation Woo-jin Jang absolutely dominate Puerto Rican dude Daniel Gonzalez 4-1, Scheffler was left in disbelief.
"II think at one time I would have considered the table tennis that we played elite," he admitted, I'm pretty sure it's far from it [now].” He clearly still in shock from witnessing the lightning fast skills of the real pros.
South Korea's Woo-jin Yang is among the best in the world at table tennis/ Steph Chambers
Don't feel too bad though buddy - I don't think any of us mere mortals could hang with those insane Olympic paddlers! It just goes to show, what seems impressive in a fun amateur tournament loses its luster real quick against the inhuman talents competing for gold.
But don't worry fans, our guy Scottie says ping pong greatness wasn't his goal in coming to Paris - he's here for golf gold or bust. And with six wins already under his belt this year, including a second Masters victory, I like his chances. Just no challenging any ping pong players to a grudge match anytime soon okay Scottie? Unless you've got a few years to train.
“It would be extremely special to have a gold medal and it's definitely one of the reasons why I'm here this week,” said Scheffler. “I loved going to watch table tennis yesterday, but that's not why I showed up.”
Scheffler will tee off in his first round of men's Olympic golf on 1 August at Le Golf National, where he will be among the favorites to strike gold. But he now knows that taking on the table tennis elites is a whole different level of challenge.
References: https://www.golfdigest.com/story/olympics-2024-scottie-scheffler-table-tennis-not-elite
