Nelly Korda, Lilia Vu, Rose Zhang to represent U.S. for women’s golf at Paris Olympics

Nelly Korda, Lilia Vu and Rose Zhang are officially set to represent the U.S. at the Olympics in August.

The qualification period for the 2024 Paris Games ended after last week’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, giving official notice that three Americans would be headed to Le Golf National to compete in the Olympic field.

For the red, white and blue!

🇺🇸 @NellyKorda
🇺🇸 @TheLiliaVu
🇺🇸 @RoseZhang @TeamUSA | @USAGolf pic.twitter.com/0cUofWrUxo

— Olympic Golf (@OlympicGolf) June 25, 2024

According to the qualification system, a maximum of four golfers from a single country can become eligible for the Paris 2024 Games so long as they are ranked in the top 15 in the world per the Rolex Women’s Golf Rankings. Korda, Vu and Zhang — ranked No. 1, No. 2 and No. 9, respectively — made the cut, while Ally Ewing (No. 16) barely missed out on a spot. The Mississippi native was just two strokes shy of a solo second-place finish at last week’s major championship, a result that would have given her a place in the top 15.

Korda, 25, headlines the American roster as the defending gold medalist from the 2020 Games, played in 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Korda holds a stunning six LPGA tour wins this season, including five consecutive victories. The Bradenton, Fla., native joined Nancy Lopez (1978) and Annika Sorenstam (2004, 2005) as the only players to go five-for-five on tour. She has 14 career LPGA victories, including one major championship.

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A five-time LPGA winner, Vu will compete in the Olympics following a back injury that sidelined her for the first half of the 2024 season. But the time away from competition doesn’t seem to have impacted the UCLA product: Vu, 26, won the Meijer LPGA Classic in her first tournament appearance since March. Vu hoisted two major championship trophies in 2023 at the Chevron Championship and the AIG Women’s Open, earning the world No. 1 spot until Korda took over last fall.

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Zhang, 21, is widely regarded as one of the game’s brightest young stars. A Stanford University product, Zhang was ranked as the No. 1 amateur in the world for 141 weeks, the longest stretch in amateur golf history. When she turned professional last June, Zhang won her maiden LPGA start at the Mizuho Americas Open. She recently captured her second victory on tour at the Cognizant Founders Cup, which ended Korda’s record-tying win streak.

All three golfers represented the U.S. at the Solheim Cup last year in Spain for the biennial match play competition. Vu and Zhang will make their Olympic debut this summer in France.

The full final women’s Olympic Golf Ranking can be found here.

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(Photo: Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)