Individual, Women

Unlike the men’s Olympic tournament, virtually all the top women in the world competed in Rio, led by the four Korean players, all in the world’s top 15 – Park In-Bi, Amy Yang, Jeon In-Ji, and Kim Se-Yeong. Park In-Bee was the top women’s player in the world until the recent advent of New Zealander phenom Lydia Ko, still only 19-years-old in Rio, but ranked #1 in the world since mid-2015.

Park took the lead after two rounds, with consecutive rounds of 66, leading American Stacy Lewis by one shot, after Lewis shot 63 in round two. Ko was well back at 139, but she shot 65 in round three to move into a tie for second with American Gerina Piller, as Park led by two shots, Lewis having fallen back with a 76. Park was never headed in the final round, shooting 66 to Ko’s 69, and winning by five shots. Piller was in bronze medal contention until struggling on the final nine, with the bronze taken by the relatively unheralded Chinese player Feng Shanshan, although she had been ranked in the world’s top 10 since 2012. However, in November 2017 Feng became the first Chinese player of either gender to rank #1 in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR).

With the world top two players, from Korea and New Zealand, winning gold and silver, and the bronze won by the top non-Korean Asian player, international women’s golf could hardly have asked for a better return to the Olympics.