Individual, Women

The Koreans had the strongest women players in the world, and they were represented by Park In-Bi, Kim Se-Yeong, Go Jin-Yeong, and Kim Hyo-Ju, all in the top 10 of the world rankings. The Americans were close behind and they had the #1 player in the rankings with Nelly Korda, who was joined on the USA team by her sister Jessica Korda, Lexi Thompson, and Danielle Kang. The Kordas were the daughters of Petr Korda, formerly the #2 tennis player in the world, and Regina Rajchrtová, also a world class tennis player, and they had a brother, Sebastian Korda, who had recently reached the fourth round at Wimbledon, but he declined to play the Tokyo Olympic tournament.

Form would hold as Nelly Korda opened the tournament with a 67, to lead after round one alongside India’s unheralded Aditi Ashok, who was ranked #200 in the world coming into the Olympics. In the second round Korda produced the round of the tournament, carding a 62 to take a three-shot lead over Ashok and two Danes – Emily Kristine Pedersen and Nanna Madsen.

A steady 69 in round three saw Korda maintain her three-stroke advantage over Ashok, with four players two shots further back – Madsen, defending silver medallist and former world #1 Lydia Ko of New Zealand, Australia’s Hannah Green, and Japan’s hope, Mone Inami, ranked #28 in the world as the Olympics started.

Nelly Korda held on to win the gold medal, although she struggled on the back nine in round four, and at one time was tied by both Inami and Ko. However, when Inami bogeyed the final hole, a tough par 4 with an approach shot over water, Korda parred it to become Olympic Champion. Inami and Ko stood in second place at 16 under, and played off for the silver and bronze medals, with Inami winning silver on the first play-off hole, the 18th, as Ko bogeyed. The bronze medal did at least make Ko the first golfer to win two individual Olympic medals.