By: Max Bechtoldt
Believe it or not, Olympic golf is already back, but who will show up in the 2024 Paris games? With the Olympic golf ranking system so complicated it can be hard to keep track. So stick with Fore-All.com as we will be giving weekly updates to the changes in the rankings every Tuesday.
For the Feb. 12 update, the story of the rankings are the top two teams, United States and South Korea, and if they will be able to get four players into the field.
The Olympic golf rules state that only four players per country can get in, if that country has four players in the top 15 of the Rolex Rankings. In the two editions under this format, Korea has qualified four players each time. Currently Korea only has three players, Jin Young Ko, Hyo Joo Kim and Amy Yang qualifying. Yang is ranked No. 15 and is holding on by a thread.
Just outside of the top 15 for South Korea is Ji Yai Shin, a two-time major winner who has gone over a decade without winning on the LPGA Tour. But she is back to playing in the United States and looks to be in great form after some strong finishes last year. No other player for Korea is in the top 30.
For the United States, they qualified three golfers in Rio De Janeiro and four in Tokyo. This year, like South Korea, not even three are guarantees. Lilia Vu and Tokyo gold medalist Nelly Korda seem to be locks, as they are ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the world. After that, it will be tight as Megan Khang and Allisen Corpuz are No. 12 and No. 14 respectively. Khang will need to keep up her strong play and Corpuz probably needs to start kicking her game into gear. If these four made the trip to Paris, Korda would be the only one with Olympic experience.
Behind this group are Alison Lee, who despite not having any career wins has risen up to No. 18 in the world and is very much in play for a spot. Angel Yin is at No. 20 but has an injury that might make rising in the rankings stall for awhile. Then at No. 21 is Rose Zhang, who looks to continue her meteoric rise in the sport with a trip to the Olympics.
To me, these possible developments are a sign of the growing parity of women’s golf, not just on an individual level, but on a country-wide level as well.
