American women are having a moment in the Games of the 33rd Olympiad.
As of Wednesday, 48 of the 86 medals won by the United States have been earned by women. Tori Huske, Simone Biles, Regan Smith, Gretchen Walsh, Kate Douglass and Katie Ledecky each have at least four medals in Paris.
This comes at a time when women’s sports have been gaining momentum—specifically the WNBA which has reported its TV ratings tripling since Caitlin Clark, Indiana Fever rookie and former Iowa star, got into the league. (The recent WNBA All-Star Game was watched by an average of 3.4 million viewers, the league’s most-viewed broadcast since 1997).
I wrote earlier this year about how Nelly Korda, the 26-year-old American who has won six times this season, should have been getting more attention during her historic run. Golf is popular, Korda is marketable and the LPGA has plenty of personalities—the ingredients should be there for a Caitlin Clark kind of explosion.
The reasons for that not happening are varied but my opinion is that the LPGA lacks a reasonable TV contract that gets these women the exposure they deserve. Too often we see the women play on tape-delay or Golf Channel rather than getting a slot on a big network. For instance, this year’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship had bare-bones TV coverage that felt more like the Barbasol Championship than a women’s major.
That is part of what makes this weekend so valuable for the women.
The men don’t really need the Olympics, even if the tournament’s stock is growing. There are four iconic majors, plus the Ryder Cup, plus a handful of other noteworthy events. Money and attention have largely flowed into the men’s professional game—in some cases, it’s even been excessive.
But the women need the Olympics. Back in 2016, their Olympic tournament was the most-watched women’s golf event of the year. The last 90 minutes of the final round was, at the time, the highest-rated and most-watched period for women’s golf on cable since the 2010 Women’s British Open.
It’s a huge platform that women’s golf rarely gets. The best players also view the event as on par, or even slightly ahead, of major championships. Most agreed it was safely among the top two or three events all year, regardless of the outcome.
“To me, it would rank a little higher than a major,” said world No. 2 Lilia Vu. “I think in the sense that you’re playing for your country and it’s more than just golf. It’s the Olympics which is the best athletes all over the world. So a little higher for me.”
Why the Olympics is vital for women’s golf
The LPGA is more diverse and international than the PGA Tour. That alone helps make the global audience more invested in the outcome.
After Round One in Paris—the women’s event is being played Wednesday through Saturday—there were 12 different countries represented in the top seven on the leaderboard. That’s not a typo! France, South Africa, Mexico, Switzerland, Colombia, United States, Norway, China, India, Australia, Japan and Canada were all in serious contention for a medal.
It’s hard to overestimate the effect that has on the development of women’s golf worldwide. Ireland’s Leona Maguire said many people from her country are getting interested in golf for the first time because of the Olympics.
“A lot of people watched women’s golf for the first time that would never normally watch women’s sport or women’s golf,” Maguire said. “To represent your country is a huge honor but to get to do it at an Olympic Games is even more special. I was at home this past week in Ireland and the buzz around the country … everyone and was talking about how we won medals in the pool for the first time in a long time and there’s a boxing medal coming up.
“This is the most successful Games for Ireland ever. It’s very cool to see Irish people succeeding on one stage. You want to be part of that. You’re sitting home watching and you want to see the Irish flag go up on the podium and even better if the national anthem gets played.”
Several players mentioned a reality: people in their home country don’t know what certain majors mean—but they know what a gold medal means.
“I think it will be up there high or at the top for me to win a medal in general,” Great Britain’s Georgia Hall said when asked about the value of a gold medal compared to winning a major.
France’s Celine Boutier, six times an LPGA winner including one major, stormed to an early lead in her home country by shooting a 7-under 65 before falling back with a 4-over 76. Boutier is a native Parisian and the winningest Frenchwoman in LPGA history—large crowds followed her during the first two rounds.
It would be a huge story if she regained her composure and won, especially after we saw France’s Victor Perez make his splendid run up the leaderboard in the men’s event.
France’s Celine Boutier stormed to an early lead before falling back. (GETTY IMAGES/Kevin C. Cox)Korda, who won gold in 2021, struggled to an even-par 72 in Round One and then surged up the leaderboard on Thursday before a quadruple bogey on the par-3 16th sent her tumbling back. She came into the third round at 2-under, six strokes back of 36-hole leader Switzerland’s Morgane Metraux.
The best-case scenario would be for (at least) Korda to get in the mix, although she has been stuck in neutral since winning in May. Her fellow American Rose Zhang is also on the fringe of contention.
Other storylines include Lydia Ko (New Zealand) attempting to win her third medal, Vu (United States) looking to build on two recent major victories and 21-year-old Atthaya Thitikul (Thailand) hoping to win the biggest event of her career. Charley Hull (Great Britain) would have been a popular medal winner but she shot herself out of the tournament with an opening 9-over 81. (For the first time this year, Hull was not allowed to smoke on the course due to Olympic rules).
If a great leaderboard develops, this could be among the most important women’s golf events we’ve seen—and effects on the sport could be substantial.
Especially as a mixed team golf event could be coming for the 2028 Summer Games, there is a sense that women’s golf as a whole could gain more energy through the Olympics.
Will you be watching? Who would you like to see win at Le Golf National?
Top Photo Caption: Nelly Korda is hoping to make history this week in Paris. (GETTY IMAGES/Andrew Redington)
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