Montgomerie rallied bravely for a Sunday 69 and tied for 18th. Couples finished tied for 53rd. All three of these players got away from Olympic without having to face the scrutiny that fell on Stewart and Lehman. Just being in that position ought to count for something. Especially when you consider the group of players, officials and fans whose only distinction at Olympic was that they failed less conspicuously than Tom Lehman and Payne Stewart.
Losers come in all shapes and sizes.
But squaring the perception of what constitutes a loser with the reality of who the losers really are is deeply difficult - deeper than the roughs and more slippery than the slopes at the U.S. Open.