By: Max Bechtoldt
While Rose Zhang’s second-career victory was important for the CME Standings and Solheim Cup points it brought, its greatest impact may be on the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Coming into this week, Zhang was on the outside looking in. In order to qualify for the Olympics for the Americans, players will assuredly need to be in the top 15 in the world. With Nelly Korda and Lilia Vu seemingly locked in, that leaves spots available for the next two Americans who are ranked 15 or better.
Zhang was behind Megan Khang, Alison Lee and Angel Yin. She was also sitting at No. 22 in the Rolex world rankings. Her win at the Cognizant Founders Cup though moved her up 16 spots to No. 6 in the world. Her highest-career ranking. It also made her the third highest ranked American.
There is still time until the Olympic team is finalized, but its hard to envision many scenarios where Zhang moves out. While she has been inconsistent to begin 2024, the 20-year-old phenom now has three top-10 finishes in seven events played.
Just holding on for dear life to a spot right now is Megan Khang, ranked No. 15 in the world. Khang has had a slightly disappointing season coming off 2023, which was the best of her career. 2023 saw Khang with seven top 10s, her first win and gain Solheim Cup Stardom. Currently, she has just one top 10 this year and three missed cuts.
As mentioned before, Korda is locked in to the world No. 1 spot for probably the near future. Vu has struggled with back injuries this year, only finishing in five events this season. The strength of her 2023 campaign though, where she won two majors and four tournaments overall, is probably enough to get her to Paris.
