Nelly Korda’s first major victory Sunday at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship not only moved the American to No. 1 in the Rolex Rankings but also atop the final Olympic rankings, jumping South Koreans Jin Young Ko and Inbee Park.
Korda will represent the U.S. at the Aug. 4-7 competition at Kasumigaseki Country Club near Tokyo, where she’ll be joined by fellow American Olympians Danielle Kang, Lexi Thompson and sister Jessica Korda.
South Korea also qualified the maximum number of players – teams are allowed up to two players unless more players are ranked inside the top 15 of the Rolex Rankings; then teams are allowed up to four representatives. Ko, Park, Sei Young Kim and Hyo-Joo Kim make up the South Korean team.
U.S. will need A-game to top South Korea in Tokyo
The Kordas will follow in the footsteps of their mother, Regina, who was a member of the Czechoslovakian women’s tennis team at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Of course, the Korda sisters could also be joined by their younger brother, Sebastian, in Tokyo this year. Sebastian Korda is the 50th-ranked player in the ATP rankings and with one American tennis player (John Isner) already officially out, Korda is in line to qualify, as well.
According to Olympic historian Bill Mallon, it will be the fifth time that three U.S. siblings have competed in the same Olympics but the first time that an American brother and sister have competed in different sports in the same Olympics.
There were only two withdrawals on the women’s side: England’s Charley Hull gave up her spot in favor of countrywoman Georgia Hall, and South Africa’s Lee-Anne Pace dropped out and was replaced by Morocco’s Maha Haddioui.
“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,” Hull said on social media. “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.”
Here is a look at the 60-player field:
-
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. Georgia Hall, 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