The final hole of the day was at Le Golf National. The par-5, 18th, had been a nightmare for Morgane Metraux on day 2. The Swiss golfer had hit her worst shot that day, causing her to bogey the hole and finish at 8-under. However, she is nothing but resilient, for the athlete carded a birdie on the third day on the same hole at the Olympics. And this same resilience is what helped the 27-year-old overcome the unfortunate setback that she suffered back in 2019. A setback that almost cost her the LPGA Tour card.

The Swiss golfer was faced with a shoulder injury in 2019, as per Golfweek. This caused her to take a break from the sport for a total of 10 months. The pain made a return in mid-February, at a time when Metraux was preparing for the Symetra Tour (now known as the Epson Tour) season that year. A 10-month break, which lasted until the fall, caused her to lose distance by the time she came back.

The Epson Tour back then and now is the official qualifying circuit of the LPGA circuit, where the top female golfers compete to clinch a chance to play at the highest level. Case in point: the setback that season caused Morgane Metraux to work on herself while aiming for the LPGA Tour card, a dream that she was only able to attain two years down the lane.

2021 saw the Swiss athlete make the cut at 14 out of 18 events on the Epson Tour. Out of the same, she finished 5 times inside the top 10, the best of which she carded at the Island Resort Championship, with a victory. Eventually, her performance at the end of the season helped her place at T9 on the Epson Tour Money List to earn an LPGA Tour card for 2022.

Metraux’s determination to keep at her dream was evident in the journey the two-time LET champ took to reach her destination. When presented with a tough decision to either play at the Tokyo Olympics or the 2021 Amundi Evian Championship, the golfer ultimately chose the major in France. The reason? Be it bad luck, the Switzerland pro couldn’t afford to miss that many weeks on the Symetra Tour if she was to earn her LPGA Tour card. “It was honestly tough to say no,” disclosed the Swiss player. Even so, her choice in 2021 didn’t stop her from earning an Olympic spot later on, in the 2024 Paris games.

Morgane Metraux’s scintillating run at the 2024 Paris Olympics

Morgane Metraux has now achieved her dream of becoming an Olympic star as well. The golfer is tied with former No. 1 Lydia Ko of New Zealand, both of whom boasted a score of 9-under after the third round of play. The Switzerland pro, meanwhile, did so by carding figures of 70-66-71 over the three rounds at Le Golf National, courtesy of 12 birdies, 9 bogeys and 3 eagles.

Looking back, she would surely dub choosing the 2021 major as a “tough” choice. “It feels like I could regret it one day,” said the golfer back then, “but at the same time right now it’s what I needed to do.” One can’t blame her for choosing the event. Couple the desire to earn an LPGA Tour card with the “lifelong dream” of an athlete to play at the Amundi Evian Championship in France, taking place just across Lake Geneva in Switzerland, and the result is obvious. Fast forward to 2024, and she is living her dream as an LPGA Tour pro and an Olympian!