2024 Paris Olympics: Team USA Women’s Golf Roster Is All Set; Here’s Everything You Need to Know

A hopeful Lexi Thompson once told Nick Faris of The Score, “Ever since I found out that (golf) was going to be an Olympic sport, I was like: Let’s be there.” However, as fate would have it, her final year on the LPGA Tour as a professional failed to earn her a spot on the roster for the 2024 Paris Olympics. But not to worry, for Team USA is not lacking in talent.

The women’s golfing world saw its third major of the season end with Chinese Pro Amy Yang clinching the victory and a spot on the Olympics team. Case in point; It naturally raises curiosity about the American team that is set to tee off against the other nations, all the while being led by the likes of the current No. 1 in the world!

LPGA Tour Pros part of the Paris Olympics U.S.A. team

1. Nelly Korda: It was the 2021 season on the LPGA Tour. The then-22-year-old Korda was well on her way to stardom. She had raked in four wins during the season, including a major championship at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. Moreover, she also clinched the gold medal at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics by defeating Mone Inami and Lydia Ko, marking the season as her breakout year. But little did she know 2024 was going to be even better with six wins on the circuit and a No. 1 ranking, as per the Rolex standings, all the while asserting her dominance in the sport.

She started off the year with a T16 at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions. The average finish did not hinder her one bit, as she clinched 5 straight wins on the Tour. She emerged victorious at the LPGA Drive-On Championship, the FIR HILLS SERI PAK Championship, the Ford Championship presented by KCC, the T-Mobile Match Play presented by MGM Rewards, and the Chevron Championship. She also won the Mizuho Americas Open soon after. Although she missed the cut at her last three events, her position as the No. 1 golfer had well been cemented by then claiming a spot on the U.S.A. Team.

“Any time I get to represent the Red, White, and Blue,” expressed Korda before earning her qualification, “it’s a huge honor. That would be another thing I would be extremely grateful for.” She has every opportunity to be grateful now, seeing as how her name is part of the American team for the upcoming event. But will she be able to replicate her 2021 heroics once again? That is the question that makes everyone curious.

2. Lilia Vu: If 2021 was Korda’s first breakout year, then 2023 was Vu’s. She claimed four victories last year, two of which came at the majors, the Chevron Championship, and the AIG Women’s Open. The 26-year-old’s 2nd major title pushed her to the top spot on the Rolex Rankings and her 4th win at the Annika Driven by Gainbridge at Pelican cemented her position at the same time. Although she hasn’t replicated the feat in 2024, the golfer has nevertheless raked in 3 top-10 finishes from 9 starts, including a win.

The current world No. 2 was very hopeful of making it into the Olympics at the start of 2024. “The first [priority] would be to make it to the Olympics and then win a couple more times this year,” said Vu in an interview with AFP News Agency, “I don’t want to be too specific and hold myself to super high standards. I just want them to be attainable.” And she sure has attained a spot that she yearned for!

3. Rose Zhang: “It’s honestly crazy and incredible,” admitted the 21-year-old before her place on America’s Olympic team was confirmed. She was, nonetheless, hoping for the best, as she told Fansided in an interview, “I’m just trying my best to put myself in an opportunity to be able to do so but that’s all I can do. If things work out, they work out. If they don’t, they don’t.” But come June 24, No. 9 in the Rolex Ranking clinched her spot for the quadrennial games.

The young golfer was ranked outside the top 15 on the Rolex Rankings until her second LPGA Tour win at the 2024 Cognizant Founders Cup. The victory awarded her 62 points, allowing her to claim the 6th spot in the rankings. However, a WD at the Mizuho Americas Open, a missed cut at the U.S. Women’s Open, and a T35 at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship pushed her down to the ninth position.

Be that as it may, she earned her place on the team, making one of Zhang’s dreams come true; “To see how much honor and pride they bring to the country is honestly such a feeling that I would love to experience.” Not everyone could, unfortunately, make use of their chance.

American LPGA Tour Pros who failed to qualify for the Olympics

The United States of America was on the verge of getting its fourth professional for the Paris Olympics. Much to the misfortune of the U.S.A. team, Ally Ewing could only finish at T5 at the 2024 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. The 5th position could only help her garner 22 points, allowing her to clinch the 16th spot on the Rolex Rankings. The golfer would have qualified had she finished just two strokes higher at the major.

Ewing wasn’t the only American to lose out on their chances. Megan Khang and Alison Lee, who were at No. 16 and No. 18 on the world rankings, respectively, before the major, failed to make the cut at the event, thereby pushing themselves down the standings. They can only stand aside and cheer on the three golfers as they make their way to Paris in hopes of replicating their 2021 gold medal win at the Olympics!