Olympic Golf: Top 5 Women Pros to Watch Out at Le Golf National

With the Men’s golf done and dusted, all eyes will be on Nelly Korda & Co. The World No. 1 leads a pack of three American LPGA pros at Le Golf National. Aside from patriotic fervor and Olympic glory, Korda obviously has an added motivation of title defense to boost her. The field of 60 misses a few big names, but there is no dearth of top-rated pros who are ready to throw it all in for a podium finish. 

Unlike the men’s event, everyone from the top 15 in the Rolex World ranking will take a trip to Paris. The par-71 Le Golf changes to par-72 for the women’s game. Before the tournament tees off on Thursday, here are the top five picks for a podium finish. 

Hannah Green 

Hannah Green is the only multiple-time winner this season other than Nelly Korda.  The Australian’s strength is her spectacular approach game. She ranks 13th in the LPGA Tour in reaching greens in regulation, despite her often wayward drives that land in tough spots (130th in driving accuracy).

On the positive side, her putter remains hot most of the time; she is the second-best player in putts per GIR. Green can definitely take inspiration from Victor Perez, Thomas Detry, or Joaquin Niemann, all of who were in the bottom 20 in driving accuracy but managed a top-10 finish nonetheless. Green is coming off of a T14 at the CPKC Women’s Open.

Atthaya Thitikul

The Thai youngster hasn’t played as much as her American counterparts. But her performance has been solid. Except for two missed cuts and a T52 at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, the 21-year-old has bagged top-12s in each of the six tournaments, finally culminating in a victory at the Dow Championship in June. 

Thitikul ranks 5th in greens in regulation, and 30th in driving distance. Accuracy off the tee (64.25%) pushes her outside the top 100 on the Tour. At Le Golf’s skimpy fairways, that can be punishing. However, with a little course navigational help, a top-10 shouldn’t be an unrealistic expectation from the 21-year-old. 

Rose Zhang

Zhang is one of the few players who is somewhat familiar with the par-72 layout. The Stanford product can top into the memory bank when she was here for the Women’s World Amateur Team Championship. She made a bogey to hand the Espirito Santo Trophy to Sweden two years ago. 

But the former world No. 1 amateur is now a two-time winner on the LPGA Tour. Rose Zhang’s second season has been marked by highs and lows, with four top tens, one title, three missed cuts, and a bunch of finishes outside the top 20. But currently, she is riding on a high of a T6 at the CPKC Women’s Open. 

Brooke Henderson

The 13-time LPGA Tour winner is one of the 20 best players on the Tour from the tee. She likes to credit her eyeglasses for that. That, however, tells only so much about the seven top-10s she had this season.

The Canadian tumbled slightly in the last two months but bounced back with two T8s at the Dow Championship and the CPKC Women’s Open. Brooke Henderson also ranks 6th in reaching greens in regulation (72.41%).

Nelly Korda

Like the world no. 1 on the men’s side, it’s impossible not to place Nelly Korda as the favorite to bring home the Gold. She has cooled off a bit from her six-title-winning self. However, the Bradenton native, who recently celebrated her 26th birthday, looks primed nonetheless. 

The prevalent wisdom that Le Golf will value accuracy more than distance proved true in men’s golf. Barring Victor Perez, none of the top-five players in the field ranked outside the top 20 in driving accuracy. Korda ranks 43rd in the LPGA Tour on that front, but a bunch of players ahead of her won’t make the trip to Paris. 

On the other hand, Korda ranks second in reaching greens in regulation. A quality amply rewarded by the par-72 layout. Barring Perez, everyone inside the top five was one of the ten best players with their irons. To top it off, Nelly Korda can take it forward from the greens quite deftly, ranking 4th in putts per GIR. She can very well pull off what Xander Schauffele couldn’t.

Aside from these five, major champions like like Lydia Ko, Minjee Lee, Yuka Saso, Celine Boutier, and others are traveling to Guyancourt. Ko secured a podium finish twice in as many appearances. For Minjee Lee, this is a chance to improve her T29 from three years ago. Whereas, Boutier will enjoy the home support that Saso received in the last edition. What Le Golf showed at the men’s event means Boutier will miss no motivation when she tees off on Thursday.