Justin Rose has been the ultimate Olympic tourist in the last ten days - now he’s going home with the best holiday gift ever in his luggage.

Rose has given the impression of being on a fun in the sun break since arriving in Rio. He embraced the opening ceremony like a kid who’d eaten too much sugar, tweeted his view from swimming pool to food hall and will leave Brazil with an impressive collection of athlete selfies along with his gold medal.

From striking a hole-in-one in the first round to holding off the challenge of Open champion Henrik Stenson in a thrilling conclusion, Rose has more than played his part and his his sport owes him a debt of gratitude too.

“That felt better than anything I've ever won,” said Rose, who, it should be underlined, was the first British golfer since Tony Jacklin, 43 years previously, to win the US Open with his victory three years ago.

“This was the best tournament I've ever done. It felt like a cross between a golf tournament and a carnival. It was unique and incredible.”

The purists remains sniffy about golf’s involvement at the Olympics, arguing that these pampered millionaires should aim their private jets somewhere else and that the Games should be - and never will be for golf - the pinnacle.

That argument wasn’t helped when a clutch of the top players, including the world’s top four, Jason Day, Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy, all stayed away citing fears about Zika virus.

It was always a fig leaf excuse, the truth being that the Olympics simply wasn’t a priority but trying tell that to Rose and Stenson, two major champions, who battled all the way to the final hole in a gripping conclusion that couldn’t have been better scripted. This meant something more than another stop on the tour.

American Matt Kuchar fired a flawless final round 63 to move into contention but settled for bronze as Stenson and Rose took their duel down the stretch.

Heading down the final hole, a play-off looked a possibility until Rose struck a nerveless chip to two feet and Stenson missed his long-range attempt at a birdie. That gave Rose two putts for gold but he needed just one.

"Coming up with that last pitch when I needed it was magical and hopefully we've shown Brazil what golf is about,” he said.

“I’m glad it was close, not for my nerves, for golf. Hopefully this is the first of many Olympic golf tournaments but it feels very special to be the first person to win in 112 years."

Earlier this week, British weightlifter Sonny Webster was about to make his Olympic debut and was struggling with nerves.

A big golf fan, he went up to Rose, who spent nearly an hour discussing how he copes with the pressure of the big occasion. The Olympics is always about the sum of its parts, not the individual, which is why the decision to grant golf a place on the schedule was so controversial.

But Rose proved the perfect team player and got his reward.

Aldi is the first Official Supermarket partner of Team GB and has been championing our nation’s extraordinary athletes on their Road to Rio and encouraging the public to tuck into fresh, affordable, Great British food. For more information visit aldi.co.uk