Women’s Olympic Golf Qualifying Finalised – Who Is Heading To Tokyo?

The field is set for the 2021 Olympic women's golf competition in Tokyo

Women’s Olympic Golf Qualifying Finalised – Who Is Heading To Tokyo?

Not only was there a major up for grabs at the weekend, but the best female golfers in the world also had one last chance to stake their claim for a place in this year’s Olympics. 

Based on the world rankings alone, a maximum of four from any country can play their way into the tournament, provided they are all within the top 15. In the event that there are more than four, the lowest ranked player missed out. 

Outside of that, the rest of the 60-player field is made up of a maximum of two per country, with the host nation – in this case Japan – guaranteed at least one entrant. 

Unlike the men’s tournament, the women’s field hasn’t been ravaged by withdrawals, which is great to see given how much effort went in to re-establishing golf as an Olympic sport. 

So, who has qualified for the 2021 Tokyo Games to represent their country on the biggest stage? 

At the top end of the rankings, new World No. 1 Nelly Korda, fresh off back-to-back victories on the LPGA Tour and her first major title, headlines the four-woman American team that also includes Danielle Kang (5), Lexi Thompson (9) and Nelly’s sister, Jessica (13). 

The only other country that will have four representatives is Korea, with Jin Young Ko (2), defending gold-medal winner In Bee Park (3), Sei Young Kim (4) and Hyo-Joo Kim (6) forming a formidable line-up. 

Lydia Ko (10), the silver medallist in 2016 will tee it up for New Zealand, while bronze medallist Shanshan Feng (16) has qualified as the leading Chinese player.

Elsewhere, Nasa Hataoka (11) and Mone Inami (27) will have the honour of representing the home nation, while Mel Reid (38) and Jodi Sadoff (86) will make the journey to Tokyo to compete for Team GB – the latter a stand-in as Charley Hull and Georgia Hall both opted to withdraw.

In an Instagram post, Hull, who finished two shots outside the medal positions at the 2016 Rio Games, explained her decision to pull out.

“I’ve been thinking long and hard over the past few months about this year’s Olympics and whether or not I’d be able to give my best performance given all the scheduling and travel challenges involved,” she wrote.

“Obviously it would be a huge privilege to represent my country but I have, very reluctantly, made the tough decision not to travel this year which has been very hard given all the amazing memories I have from my experience in Rio five years ago.

“I’ll be following Team GB closely in Tokyo and wish them all the best of luck.”

In total, 36 countries will be represented in the 72-hole event that will take place from August 4-7 at Kasumigaseki Country Club.

Women’s Olympic Golf Field (provisional)

USA: Nelly Korda, Danielle Kang, Lexi Thompson, Jessica Korda

Korea: Jin Young Ko, In Bee Park, Sei Young Kim, Hyo-Joo Kim

Canada: Brooke Henderson, Alena Sharp

Philippines: Yuka Saso, Bianca Pagdanganan

New Zealand: Lydia Ko

Japan: Nasa Hataoka, Mone Inami

Thailand: Patty Tavatanakit, Ariya Jutanugarn

Australia: Minjee Lee, Hannah Green

China: ShanShan Feng, Xiyu Lin

Germany: Sophia Popov, Caroline Masson

Spain: Carlota Ciganda, Azahara Munoz

Great Britain: Melissa Reid, Jodi Shadoff

Sweden: Anna Nordqvist, Madelene Sagstrom

Denmark: Nanna Koerstz Madsen, Emily Kristine Pedersen

France: Celine Boutier, Perrine Delacour

Ireland: Leona Maguire, Stephanie Meadow

Mexico: Gaby Lopez, Maria Fassi

Finland: Matilda Castren, Sanna Nuutinen

South Africa: Ashleigh Buhai

Taiwan: Wei-Ling Hsu, Min Lee

Italy: Giulia Molinaro, Lucrezia Colombotto Rosso

Netherlands: Anne van Dam

Malaysia: Kelly Tan

Switzerland: Albane Valenzuela, Morgane Metraux

India: Aditi Ashok

Puerto Rico: Maria Fernanda Torres

Hong Kong: Tiffany Chan

Norway: Marianne Skarpnord

Czech Republic: Klara Spilkova

Belgium: Manon De Roey

Austria: Christine Wolf

Slovenia: Pia Babnik

Colombia: Mariajo Uribe

Ecuador: Daniela Darquea

Argentina: Magdalena Simmermacher

Morocco: Maha Haddioui

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