Will Rose Zhang Miss Out on Olympics Dream After Disastrous U.S. Women’s Open Finish?

It was a brutal second day at the 79th U.S. Women’s Open. Many top players like Lydia Ko, and Lexi Thompson, including Rose Zhang from the women’s golf missed the 8-over cutline. The 2-time LPGA Tour winner shot 11 over 151 to exit the Lancaster greens early. Interestingly, the 23-year-old has missed the cut three times in the 2024 season; the last missed cut was at the Chevron Championship.

With this, Rose Zhang would be at risk of losing her world rank of 6th if someone else in the field wins or finishes better. Will this missed cut cost her her 2024 Summer Olympics participation? Fortunately, it would not disqualify Zhang from the Olympic qualification race. According to the Golf Qualifications for the 2024 Paris Olympics, only four top players will be allowed to represent their country.

How will that be decided? For women’s golf, the 15 top golfers on the Rolex Rankings will qualify directly.  And since the 23-year-old remains the third highest-ranked American in the rankings, she automatically meets the criteria for participating in the 2024 Olympics. Even if her rank drops, it would be quite impossible for Rose Zhang to stay out of the top 15 mark. So, the dream she had since the age of 5 can still be fulfilled.

Additionally, there are six more events to be played in the LPGA Tour’s 2024 season before the Olympics starts. Even if Zhang falls out of the top 15 player’s list, the American pro would have enough events to get back in it. Other than Rose Zhang, who are the three more potential Americans set to represent the US in Paris?

Apart from Zhang, who else will be representing the USA at the 2024 Paris Olympics?

Nelly Korda remains at the top of the list. Recently, World No. 1 has missed the cut of the U.S. Women’s Open but with six victories in the 2024 season, Korda would be the primary contender to represent the USA. At the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo (which were held in 2021), the Bradenton native clinched the gold medal for the country in the individual games.

This time around, the 25-year-old will try to defend her gold medal with great fervor. Following Korda is Lilia Vu, the second-ranked American on the Rolex Women’s Golf World Rankings. Unfortunately, Vu had withdrawn from the U.S. Women’s Open as she had been suffering from a back injury. As the Olympics is less than two months away, the 4-time LPGA Tour might recover in time. Or someone else might replace her.

The fourth golfer joining Vu, Rose Zhang, and Korda is Megan Khang. Khang last won on the LPGA Tour at the 2023 CPKC Women’s Open. However, with her various top finishes, she has maintained the 15th rank in the world and the ticket to the 2024 Olympics. What if Vu could not participate in the Summer Olympics? Then the next highest-ranked American outside of the top 15 will be chosen. In that case, it would be Alison Lee, who takes the 17th rank in the world.

With only six events remaining on the LPGA Tour before the Olympics start, the rankings might fluctuate. Who do you think will be out of the Olympics race from these four pros? Tell us in the comments.