The race to Paris 2024 will begin to tighten as players jockey for a spot in the 60-player field. But remember, those spots aren’t reserved for the 60 best women in the world. The Olympic qualifying criteria is designed to ensure that players from around the world are represented, even if that means a large portion of the field is ranked outside the top 200. (Currently, that’s 15 of the 60 players.)
With a cutoff date of June 24, or just after the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, players will have roughly six months to shore up a spot. The women’s event will be held Aug. 7-10, immediately after the men’s competition.
First, here’s a review of how qualifying works.
The IGF utilizes the Rolex Rankings to create its own Olympic Golf Rankings. The top 15 players in the world are eligible for Paris, with a limit of four players from any given country. Currently, the United States is the only country with four players.
The rest of the field will come straight from the rankings, with a maximum of two eligible players from each country that does not already have two or more players in the top 15.
The host country, France, is ensured at least one spot, which will go to Celine Boutier, who is currently No. 3 in the world.
With a maximum of four players from the likes of the U.S. and South Korea, a number of highly-decorated players will once again be left at home.
Here’s a look at a dozen notable names (with current Rolex Ranking) currently on the outside looking in:
There’s still plenty of talk about who didn’t make the field in Naples, Florida.
NAPLES, Fla. — While nine players are making their debut at this week’s CME Group Tour Championship, there’s still plenty of talk about who didn’t make the field.
Throughout the season, players earn points toward the Race to CME Globe, which is used not only to determine the field at Tiburon Golf Club but also to determine what kind of status – if any – players have for the next season.
The top 60 players and ties after The Annika driven by Gainbridge event qualified for the Tour Championship, which features a $7 million purse and $2 million payout to the winner.
There’s something about aces in majors in 2023 for In Gee Chun.
There’s something about aces in majors in 2023 for In Gee Chun.
During Sunday’s final round at Pebble Beach Golf Links, Chun made a hole-in-one at the 2023 U.S. Women’s Open.
She did it at the par-3 5th hole in Pebble Beach, California, the ball bounding for the hole after hitting the green. It then rolled right in the cup for a 1 and Chun then made her way towards the green, high-fiving fans lined up along the hole.
The ace came after she opened with four pars and it vaulted her into the top 10, getting her to even par for the tournament, seven shots off the lead.
It was her second ace in a major in 2023. She also made one in April at the Chevron Championship and that ace also won a million dollars for charity.
Incredibly, 75 percent of Chun’s LPGA titles are majors.
SPRINGFIELD, N.J. — In Gee Chun won her third major title last year at the KPMG Women’s PGA, but that doesn’t mean she has the run of the place this week at Baltusrol Golf Club. Chun was denied access to the women’s locker room Wednesday morning after leaving her tournament-specific credential in her golf bag, which was with her caddie.
Chun tried showing her LPGA player badge to the security official but that wasn’t enough.
“But I’m sure I’m player,” Chun pleaded.
Right about then another person looking after the locker room came and out and identified Chun as the defending champion. The humble Chun was all smiles about the mishap as she was prompted by an LPGA official to relay the story to the media.
Chun, 28, is one of only three players in the field this week with three or more major titles. Anna Nordqvist (3) and Laura Davies (4) are the only other players with such a stout major resume. Incredibly, 75 percent of Chun’s LPGA titles are majors.
In Gee Chun celebrates with the championship trophy after winning the 2022 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland. (Photo: Elsa/Getty Images)
Chun’s first victory on the LPGA came at the 2015 U.S. Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. In 2016, she won the Evian Championship with a score of 21 under, the lowest winning score for a men’s or women’s major. Last year, she clipped Lexi Thompson and Minjee Lee by one stroke at the first women’s major held at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland.
After representing South Korea in the Hanwha International Crown last month, Chun flew back to Korea to see her doctor about the inflammation in her back. She took some time off to rest and then went to work on strengthening her core. Chun returned to the LPGA last week at the Meijer LPGA Classic after a month-long break and reports that she didn’t feel any pain on the course. She’s reduced her pain medicine from twice a day to once.
“It just feels a little sometimes stiff and heavy,” she said, “but once I play golf on the course, it’s no problem.”
Chun tees off with Danielle Kang and Hannah Green at 8:17 a.m. ET on Thursday morning.
Kang posted on Instagram about a “visit to the ER for respiratory infection and severe nausea.”
SUPERSTITION MOUNTAIN, Ariz. — Danielle Kang, 13th in the Rolex Rankings and playing in her third LPGA event of 2023, withdrew during the first round of the LPGA Drive On Championship on Thursday.
The LPGA reported it was due to illness.
Kang later posted a message on Instagram stating she took a “visit to the ER for respiratory infection and severe nausea.”
She went on to say she was taking medication and planned to play through it but “now I see that it was a bit too ambitious,” she wrote, with a photo of an IV in her arm underneath the text of her Instagram message.
Kang, who tied for third at the 2023 HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore and and tied for 38th at the Honda LPGA Thailand, birdied the 10th hole to get back to even par Thursday at Superstition Mountain Golf & Country Club on Thursday. She then had bogeys on Nos. 12 and 14 before calling it a day.
Her playing partners, In Gee Chun and Jennifer Kupcho, finished the day without her, and Kang acknowledged them in her post for “being patient with me on the course as well.”
Kang finished her message stating “hopefully the nausea will subside and will be back to playing some golf again.”
Nine of the top 10 players in the world are in Asia this week.
Nine of the top 10 players in the world are in Asia this week for the 16th staging of the Honda LPGA Thailand. American Lexi Thompson, No. 6, is the only top-10 player not in the field at Siam Country Club’s Pattaya Old Course in Chonburi.
World No. 1 Lydia Ko heads into Thailand hot off a victory at the Aramco Saudi Ladies International, where she won $750,000. It’s the newlywed’s third victory worldwide in her last four starts, earning her more than $3 million in that stretch.
2022 major champions Minjee Lee and In Gee Chun will join Ko in beginning their LPGA seasons this week.
Last year, Denmark’s Nanna Koerstz Madsennotched her first LPGA victory at the Honda LPGA Thailand, defeating Xiyu Lin with an eagle on the second playoff hole.
Here are five things to look for this week in steamy Thailand, where scores are low and the humidity is high:
There were plenty of storylines that captured our attention throughout the year.
The 2022 LPGA season will be known as Lydia Ko’s comeback year. And while the one-time prodigy rightly grabbed all the headlines as the season came to a close, there were plenty of other storylines that captured our attention throughout 2022.
The Jin Young Ko/Nelly Korda budding rivalry was abruptly stopped due to health reasons. The two combined for nine LPGA titles in 2021 and won a total of two in 2022.
In their stead, a wave of first-time winners who ranged from rookies to thirtysomethings created plenty of feel-good moments. In fact, two first-time winners included on this list took home major championship trophies.
Scotland’s Gemma Dryburgh became the LPGA’s 11th first-time winner of 2022 in Japan (winning a toilet!), which matches a tour record set in 1995. The players hailed from nine different countries.
In many ways, it was a milestone season, marked by record-setting purses, historic venues and plenty of memorable moments.
In Gee Chun won’t tee it up at home this week in South Korea at the BMW Ladies Championship. The three-time major champion took a four-week break from her golf clubs after an MRI and X-ray tests showed inflammation in the shoulder area and a diagnosis of Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, according to her longtime coach Won Park.
Chun, 28, last competed on the LPGA in August at the CP Women’s Open in Canada. Her last start came in mid-September at the KB Financial Group Star Championship on the KLPGA. In addition to this week’s BMW, Chun missed the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship, Ascendant LPGA benefiting Volunteers of America and Mediheal Championship as a result of injury.
In Gee Chun holds the trophy after wining the 2022 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland. (Photo: Scott Taetsch-USA TODAY Sports)
Chun won the KPMG Women’s PGA at Congressional in June and lost in a playoff at the AIG Women’s British Open at Muirfield in August. She’s currently ranked No. 7 in the world.
Chun plans to return to the LPGA for the Pelican Women’s Championship in mid-November as well as the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship, where the winner receives $2 million.
If an LPGA victory felt like a long time coming for Buhai, consider that women have waited centuries for this.
During a practice round at Muirfield, Ashleigh Buhai pulled up a YouTube video of Ernie Els’ magnificent bunker shot on the par-3 13th from his victory 20 years ago for inspiration. One day, a young South African will do the same to Buhai after she pulled off a sensational bunker save of her own on the fourth playoff hole to win the 2022 AIG Women’s British Open over three-time major winner In Gee Chun.
If an LPGA victory felt like a long time coming for Buhai – 221 starts over the span of a dozen years – consider that women have waited centuries for this opportunity.
In 2019, the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers invited its first female members in the club’s 275-year history. That only came after the R&A took the iconic course off the men’s British Open rota after a 2016 membership vote to bring women in failed to reach the two-thirds required. A re-vote in 2017 pushed it through.
Buhai became the third South African to win a British Open at Muirfield, joining her heroes Els and Gary Player, who won in 1959. While this marked the first women’s professional event ever held at Muirfield, the men have staged 16 British Opens at the historic club, dating back to 1892.
Buhai joins a storied list of Muirfield champions that includes Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo, Tom Watson, Lee Trevino, Walter Hagen, Harry Vardon and Phil Mickelson.
“For me to be a female South African and a major winner,” said Buhai. “I’ve got no words, it’s life-changing.”
Buhai took a commanding five-shot lead into the final round after carding 30 and 31 on the front nine in the second and third rounds, respectively.
After Buhai rifled a 3-wood into the green on the par-4 first hole Sunday and converted a 6-footer for par, she looked in control on a blustery day in East Lothian.
It all seemed to unravel in a flash, however, late on the back nine.
Standing on the 15th tee, Buhai held a three-shot lead when her worst drive of the week found a poor lie in a fairway bunker. A rushed second shot out sideways went long into the fescue and it was a tangled mess from there, with a late triple-bogey bringing a host of players back in the fray.
“You know, it was very easy to panic and probably come home in an ambulance,” said Buhai, who told herself internally to get back in it.
Buhai ultimately closed with a 75, while Chun shot 70 to leave the pair knotted at 10 under for the tournament, one better than 2019 AIG champion Hinako Shibuno. It marked the first playoff at the British Open in three decades.
Ashleigh Buhai plays her third shot from the bunker on the 18th hole in the playoff after the following round of the 2022 AIG Women’s Open at Muirfield in Scotland. (Photo: Charlie Crowhurst/Getty Images)
The pair traded sudden-death blows down the 18thfour times, with the Muirfield clubhouse providing a dramatic backdrop. The closing hole played the hardest on the course for three straight days, and after Chun found a fairway bunker the fourth time down, Buhai faced a daunting greenside bunker shot as daylight dwindled.
“Show them why you’re No. 1 in bunkers this year,” encouraged her caddie, Tanya Paterson.
Buhai hit a beauty, and after Chun knocked in a bogey putt, the stage was set for the 33-year-old former South African prodigy to etch her name into history.
“I think I did what I can do,” said Chun, who was vying to become the eighth player in LPGA history to win four different majors. She’ll have to wait until 2023 for her next attempt.
Leona Maguire, the first Irishwoman to win on the LPGA, carded the day’s lowest round, a bogey-free 66, to vault into a share of fourth.
Rose Zhang, the No. 1 amateur in the world,claimed the Smyth Salveras the only amateur to play the weekend at Muirfield. The Stanford star finished 1 over for the tournament in a share of 28th place.
Buhai, née Simon, began playing golf at age 6 and has been the face of women’s golf in South Africa since she was a teenager. The one-time prodigy won the 2004 South African Open at age 14 and led her country to the World Amateur Team Championship title on home soil in 2006, before turning professional the following year.
Buhai met her husband, David, at a golf academy in Johannesburg and the couple began dating long distance 15 years ago. After Buhai’s caddie suffered a broken leg, David took a leave from the shoe store and never went back, working for Ashleigh right up until they got married, when he picked up another bag.
Why the sudden change?
“Some people say it might be good to stay married,” Ashleigh once joked.
David, who now caddies for Jeongeun Lee6, was on the 18th sweating every shot during the playoff and raced onto the green when his wife sealed the championship with the up-and-down of her life.
“In this championship in 2019 at Woburn,” said Ashleigh, “he missed the cut and he was carrying a backpack around full of beers to keep himself calm.
“It’s always harder for those watching.”
Coming into this week, Buhai had only one top-five finish in 42 majors starts and that came three years ago at the AIG, when she was paired with eventual winner Shibuno in the final round. Four of the last five British Open champions, including Shibuno, have made this event their first LPGA title.
Buhai became the second South African woman to win a major, joining Sally Little (1980 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, 1988 du Maurier Classic). Seven South African men have won majors.
Back in February, Buhai began working with sports psychologist Duncan McCarthy, and their time together has been game-changing for the LPGA veteran. Buhai said she’s been swinging good for some time but couldn’t keep herself in the moment.
That certainly wasn’t the case this week.
“I’m just so proud of how I’ve stuck it out,” said Buhai of the expectations she has carried for decades.
“I have said the last four or five years, I’ve finally started to find my feet on the LPGA and felt I could compete, and although I’m 33 now, I feel I’m playing the best golf of my career.
“It’s been a long journey, but man, it’s all worth it right now.”
“It’s pretty cool to be able to play well for the first two rounds here and try to follow in his footsteps.”
During a practice round at Muirfield, South Africa’s Ashleigh Buhai found herself pulling up a YouTube video of Ernie Els’ magnificent bunker shot on the 13th hole. Els was Buhai’s hero growing up, and she wanted to relive his greatest shot en route to victory at the British Open 20 years ago.
The 2022 AIG Women’s British Open marks the first time that professional women have had the chance to compete at historic Muirfield, host of 16 men’s British Opens. Buhai now lives full-time in Florida and has had the chance to play several rounds with Els when not on the road, though she didn’t get the chance to ask him about Muirfield.
Buhai led by three strokes after two rounds at Woburn in 2019 and now finds herself tied with Madelene Sagstrom at 7 under, one back of leader In Gee Chun.
“It’s pretty cool to be able to play well for the first two rounds here,” said Buhai, “and try to follow in his footsteps.”
A three-time winner on the Ladies European Tour, the 33-year-old Buhai has yet to break through on the LPGA. It looked like she might set a new championship record for a links course after a front-nine 30 that included an eagle on the par-5 fifth. A disappointing par on the par-5 17th, however, followed by a bogey on the 18th, left her with a 6-under 65. Buhai said she would’ve gladly taken that score at the start of the day.
“Super chuffed with how I played today,” she said. “I stayed very patient.”
South Korea’s Chun In-gee plays a shot during her second round 66 on the second day of the 2022 Women’s British Open Golf Championship at Muirfield golf course in Gullane, Scotland, on August 5, 2022. (Photo by NEIL HANNA/AFP via Getty Images)
South Korea’s Chun recently won the KPMG Women’s PGA for her third different major title. Should she claim the AIG Women’s British, she’d have four of the five major titles, only missing the Chevron Championship (thus it would be a career grand slam in the eyes of the LPGA).
Chun shot 66 on Friday and said that a bet she had with caddie Dean Herden helped her to stay focused.
“If I make the bogey-free round,” she said, “he said he’s going to buy dinner and pay me like $100 for each day if I can make it.”
Chun has recorded one bogey each day so far but enjoys the challenge of making Herden pay.
Sagstrom, who finished runner-up last year at Carnoustie, said she has only recently begun to enjoy links golf.
“It was hate at first sight,” she said. “Mega hate at first sight. I remember particularly well we played a British Am in Wales and the weather was horrendous and I couldn’t keep the ball low to save my life. I figured it out from there. This is my sixth season as a pro, so it’s taken me a little bit of time.”
Sagstrom recorded eight birdies in her second-round 65, including a couple on the last two holes.
Speaking of coming in hot, Australia’s Hannah Green birdied four of the last five holes to rocket up the board with a 66. She’s three back with Japan’s Miyu Yamashita.
Inbee Park of Korea Republic plays her tee shot on the 12th hole during Day Two of the AIG Women’s Open at Muirfield on August 05, 2022, in Gullane, Scotland. (Photo by Octavio Passos/Getty Images)
Seven-time major winner Inbee Park is alone in fourth at 6 under. Park last won a major at the 2015 AIG Women’s British Open at Turnberry.
“Believe it or not, I’ve been striking the ball so well … just all year this year,” said Park, “but my putter has been just not good at all. A lot of three-putts and just missing every single opportunity on the green.”
But that changed this week, which should sound the alarm for everyone within shouting distance of the lead at Muirfield.
World No. 2 Minjee Lee, winner of two of the last six majors, is four back and has a chance to move to No. 1 in the Rolex Rankings for the first time with a victory at Muirfield after Jin Young Ko missed the cut.
Lee also could rise to No. 1 with a solo-second finish, should No. 3 Nelly Korda finish solo-third or worse.
No Aussie has been No. 1 since the rankings debuted in February 2006. South Korea’s Ko has been ranked No. 1 for 27 consecutive weeks dating to January 31, 2022. She’s been No. 1 for a total of 133 weeks in her career.
