New world’s No. 1 Nelly Korda will head the U.S. Women’s Olympic golf team for the tournament to be played Augusta 4-7 at the Kasumigaseki Country Club outside Tokyo.
The U.S., with four players ranked inside the top 15 in the world, will have Nelly and sister Jessica on the team along with Danielle Kang and Lexi Thompson.
South Korea also has the maximum number of players — Jin Young Ko, Inbee Park, Sei Young Kim and Hoo Joo Kim.
Most countries will only have two players but the U.S. and South Korea get four as all eight players are ranked inside the top 15 in the world.
Nelly and Jessica’s mother represented Czechoslovakia as a member of the country’s tennis team in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.
One Korda who won’t be in Tokyo for the games is Nelly and Jessica’s brother Sebastian. He’s qualified as he is the fourth-highest ranked American tennis player at No. 50 in the ATP rankings but he withdrew from consideration on Tuesday at Wimbledon, saying he instead, wants to focus on the upcoming U.S. Open tennis championship.
OLYMPIC QUALIFIERS:
1. Nelly Korda, USA
2. Jin Young Ko, KOR
3. In Bee Park, KOR
4. Sei Young Kim, KOR
5. Danielle Kang, USA
6. Hyo-Joo Kim, KOR
7. Brooke M. Henderson, CAN
8. Yuka Saso, PHI
9. Lexi Thompson, USA
10. Lydia Ko, NZL
11. Nasa Hataoka, JPN
12. Patty Tavatanakit, THA
13. Jessica Korda, USA
14. Minjee Lee, AUS
15. Hannah Green, AUS
16. Shanshan Feng, CHN
17. Ariya Jutanugarn, THA
18. Sophia Popov, GER
19. Mone Inami, JPN
20. Carlota Ciganda, ESP
21. Melissa Reid, GBR
22. Anna Nordqvist, SWE
23. Jodi Ewart Shadoff, GBR
24. Nanna Koerstz Madsen, DEN
25. Celine Boutier, FRA
26. Leona Maguire, IRL
27. Xiyu Lin, CHN
28. Gaby Lopez, MEX
29. Caroline Masson, GER
30. Emily Kristine Pedersen, DEN
31. Madelene Sagstrom, SWE
32. Matilda Castren, FIN
33. Ashleigh Buhai, RSA
34. Wei-Ling Hsu, TPE
35. Azahara Munoz, ESP
36. Giulia Molinaro, ITA
37. Perrine Delacour, FRA
38. Stephanie Meadow, IRL
39. Min Lee, TPE
40. Anne van Dam, NED
41. Alena Sharp, CAN
42. Kelly Tan, MAS
43. Albane Valenzuela, SUI
44. Bianca Pagdanganan, PHI
45. Aditi Ashok, IND
46. Maria Fassi, MEX
47. Maria Fernanda Torres, PUR
48. Tiffany Chan, HKG
49. Sanna Nuutinen, FIN
50. Marianne Skarpnord, NOR
51. Klara Spilkova, CZE
52. Manon De Roey, BEL
53. Christine Wolf, AUT
54. Pia Babnik, SLO
55. Mariajo Uribe, COL
56. Daniela Darquea, ECU
57. Morgane Metraux, SUI
58. Magdalena Simmermacher, ARG
59. Lucrezia Colombotto Rosso, ITA
60. Maha Haddioui, MAR
Thin Field For Volunteers Of America:
It’s the post-major recovery and as a result, this week’s stop on the LPGA Tour, the Volunteers of America has a pretty thin field from the standpoint of world rankings.
PGA champion and new world’s No. 1 Nelly Korda and sister Jessica are off as are Lexi Thompson and Danielle Kang, the four players who will represent the U.S. in the Olympics.
Now world No. 2 Jin Young Ko will be in the field at The Colony along with No. 4 Sei Young Kim.
Play begins Thursday at the Old American Golf Club where Angela Stanford came from behind last year to capture her seventh LPGA Tour victory.
