2024 Olympic Women’s Golf Rankings: Lydia Ko Aims for History, Three Americans in Tight Pursuit After Round 2
Lydia Ko is the most consistent Olympic golfer in the last 120 years.
That is certainly true — although reason This is undeniably true, as golf did not exist in the Olympics after the 1904 Games until it was reintroduced in 2016. Ko won a silver medal in Rio that year. Five years later, she won a bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
She is now three shots behind the lead at the halfway stage of the women’s golf tournament at the Paris 2024 Olympics after shooting a 5-under-par 67 in the second round, the fourth-best round of the day. The New Zealander is three shots behind Switzerland’s Morgane Metraux and two behind China’s Ruoning Yin.
The 67 came a day after a rough 72 that left her outside the top 10. Thursday’s round was anything but rough. Ko fired a 32 and came home with a 35, with six birdies and just one bogey on the final hole.
“I played really solid today… I think consistency is really important here, especially off the tee,” Ko said. “I think the finish was a little sloppy… but obviously it’s nice to have a good round and be in a good position for the next two days.”
Ko is in good position for a couple of things right now. One is a potential gold medal. Two is getting into the LPGA Hall of Fame, It is arguably the most exclusive sport of all.Instead of being voted on by members of the media, the LPGA Hall of Fame has a points requirement.
With 20 LPGA Tour wins, two majors and many other accomplishments, Ko has accumulated 26 of the 27 points needed to enter.. A few years ago it was decided that a gold medal was worth one point.
“I think there are a lot of things I need to focus on. [on]right in front of my eyes, which is good,” Ko said. “Because that’s the lesson in my mind. It’s great that if I win the gold medal, I can go into the Hall of Fame, and that will end all these questions.
“I feel like if it happens, whether it’s in Paris or Florida or Scotland, it’s going to happen,” she continued. “And I’m so glad I have this opportunity. If I can do it here, that would be a pretty cool way to do it. But I’m playing with the top 59 qualified players here, and I have to play 36 holes.”
With just 34 (!!) women in the LPGA Hall of Fame, Ko could accomplish two extraordinary feats this weekend. She could become the 35th golfer inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame (a ridiculous number), but she could also become the only golfer — male or female — to win medals at all three Olympics since the Games returned in 2016.
Korda’s Roller Coaster
Nelly Korda was 3-over through seven holes. Then she was 6-over through 33 holes. Now, after 36, she’s somehow 2-under and six shots behind the lead.
Korda’s finish was the craziest of Round 2. She birdied the 15th hole to move to 6 under and solo third. She then made a quad at the par-3 16th, bogey the par-4 17th and finally finished with another birdie at the par-5 18th for a 2-under 70 that probably felt both five under and five under at various points throughout her round.
Korda is in T12 along with fellow American Rose Zhang after two rounds. Third-place USA representative Lilia Vu shot a 1-over 73 to drop to T14. All three are in great position to potentially medal this weekend.
Metraux goes crazy
Have you ever made eight 3-pointers in nine holes? Even on a par 3? How about a putt-putt? Morgane Metraux did it on the first nine holes at Le Golf National in Olympic.
She started with six in a row, added four more, and then finished with two more. It was crazy.
“I didn’t know the golf course until Monday,” she explained. “So it was all very new to me. But in a simple way, you know you just have to hit the fairways and the greens here. If you don’t, it’s going to be tough. I like it because it’s just in such good condition, and it’s just a great golf course. If you hit good shots, it pays off and vice versa. I really like that about golf courses.”
Actually… this is not a very difficult course.
Boutier falls behind
Thursday’s leader, French golfer Celine Boutier, shot a 4-over 76 in the second round to drop out of the top five. After building a five-shot lead over all but one player in the first round, losing most of them in Round 2 was a major disappointment. Her biggest trouble came on the back nine, where she played a double-bogey-double over three holes and shot 41 on that side.
“Emotionally, it was fine,” she said of her home lead. “I definitely felt like I missed a few shots. I struggled a little bit on the back and didn’t really make as many birdies as I did yesterday. So that definitely showed in the score.”
However, Boutier is in T6 and is likely to medal this weekend.
