Skip to navigation Skip to main content

Olympic Golf: Top Ranked Female Players

The women’s rankings were solidified after the recent completion of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, where 22-year-old American Nelly Korda captured her first major championship to move to No. 1 in the world and top the Olympic rankings. Both the U.S. and South Korea lead the way with four qualified players, while none of the other 34 countries represented has more than two. The 60-player women’s tournament will be held at Kasumigaseki Country Club August 4-7.

Korda jumped South Korea’s Jin Young Ko and Inbee Park in the final Olympic rankings and is joined by Danielle Kang (No. 5), Lexi Thompson (No. 9) and older sister Jessica Korda (No. 13). Joining Ko (No. 2) and defending gold medalist Park (No. 3) are Sei Young Kim (No. 4) and Hyo-Joo Kim (No. 6). In addition to Park, 2016 silver medalist Lydia Ko of New Zealand (No. 10) and bronze medalist Shanshan Feng of China (No. 16) are qualified.  

The next step is for the International Golf Federation (IGF) to send confirmation of the qualified athletes to the National Olympic Committees. The NOCs will then confirm use of allocated quota places to the IGF by July 1 and the IGF, in turn, will reallocate all unused quota places before the Tokyo 2020 Sport Entries Deadline on July 5.

The women’s rankings were to have run from July 8, 2018 through to June 29, 2020. However, following the postponement of the Olympics to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the IGF and International Olympic Committee adjusted the qualifying system to where the athletes accumulated Olympic Ranking points through Sunday’s conclusion to the major championship.

The top-15 world-ranked players are eligible for the Olympics, with a limit of four players from a given country. Beyond the top-15, players are eligible based on the world rankings, with a maximum of two eligible players from each country that does not already have two or more players among the top-15. The host country is guaranteed a spot, as is each of the five continents of the Olympics. 

The IGF will publish a final entries list of 60 names for both the men’s and women’s events on Tuesday, July 6, which will ratify all the competitors for the respective fields at the Olympic Games.

Click here to view the final women’s and men’s Olympic Golf Rankings

Image credit: REUTERS / RUSSELL CHEYNE

Share

More on Air

What happens if your ball strikes another players ball? Golfing Rules, Seriously!

On the course this past weekend, I putt from just off the green and my ball struck my playing partners ball, knocking it closer to the hole.

After a quick giggle, we began to discuss the ruling, 'I'll play from there and its a one-shot penalty for you' my friend said. 'I was off the green' I said, 'Doesn't matter' he said. Right, I said. 'Hang on, and I'll consult the rule book'.

Luckily, I had The R&A's Rules of Golf on my phone (Well worth a download and it's FREE)

Without quoting the book verbatim, there are basically three scenarios which you should be mindful of:

On the Fairway (updated June 14th, 2023) If your ball strikes a fellow player's ball on the fairway by accident, The 9.6 rule comes into affect, meaning If my ball...

What happens if I ground my club in a bunker? The new rules of golf explained

In 2020, the US Golf Association (USGA) and the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews (R&A) made several changes to the rules of golf.

One major change was to the "drop procedure" when a ball is lost or out of bounds. Players are now allowed to drop the ball from shoulder height, rather than knee height, making the process more consistent and less prone to mistakes. Another change was to the rule regarding penalty strokes. Players will no longer be penalized for accidentally moving a ball on the green, such as when marking or lifting it.

Additionally, players are now allowed to repair almost any damage to the course, such as spike marks on the green. The changes also include simplifying the rules for bunkers, allowing players to touch or move loose impediments...