2016 Olympics – Marquee Groups & Sleepers

There must be some special golf magic lurking around the Olympic Golf Course 6th hole.  With Inbee Park’s ace on Monday – Justin Rose and Jaco Van Zyl recorded aces on the 6th hole last week – the women’s practice rounds got off to a terrific start!

https://twitter.com/InbeePark/status/765288674648989696

With the 1st and 2nd round draws in place, I’m fairly confident that there will be several dramatic contests played out during the first 36 holes of the women’s Olympic Golf Tournament – plays within the play – as the battle for domination unfolds.

Like most women’s golf fans, I’ll be keeping a close watch on three marquee groups – where we’re certain to see some very high caliber athletic competition.

The Marquee Groups

Brooke Henderson and Lexi Thompson will put on a master long game clinic and Suzann Pettersen will show us how an established champion navigates a new track.  Look for Henderson to take the lead in this group.

Stacy Lewis, Ariya Jutanugarn, and Sei Young Kim are sure to provide some golf worth watching.  If Lewis’s short game is in form she’ll not let these two hot shot youngsters get too far out in front, but I don’t think anybody can beat Jutanugarn’s power or Kim’s uncanny ability to deliver clutch shots.

Lydia Ko, Anna Nordqvist, and Charley Hull will be the final group off the tee on Wednesday.  Hull is the horse for the course but Nordqvist isn’t going to sit back and let her run away with it; and Ko’s the top-ranked golfer in the world for a reason.  I’m looking for Nordqvist to have the edge come Thursday afternoon.

Beyond the top seeds, however, there’s a rich and diverse field of Olympians coming to the tee and some of the players in the field are very special, indeed.  There are two stand-out amateurs, players I’ve been following closely for the past year or so and will continue to monitor as they make their way into the professional circuits, and there are women representing countries where golf is a new and emerging women’s sport.

The Olympic spirit comes alive in the Women’s Individual Stroke Play through the diversity of participants.

Five Special Sleepers

Ireland’s Leona Maguire, one of the few amateurs in the field, has played her practice rounds under the watchful eye of Ireland’s Olympic team leader, Paul McGinley.  Maguire will be in the first group off the tee Wednesday morning.  The Duke Blue Devil standout has been showing up in the major event fields now for more than a year and she’s building the competition experience she needs to convert her considerable raw athletic talent into a winning game.  The Olympic Golf Course is a track that should suit Maguire’s game.  I’m looking forward to seeing how she handles it.

Nicole Broche Larsen – pictured here with teammate Nanna Koerstz Madsen during their practice round – is the 2015 LET Player of the Year.  Broche Larsen is an emerging star on golf’s big stage and well worth watching during the Women’s Individual Stroke Play competition this week.  She played the weekend at the 2016 US Women’s Open, then finished inside the top 20 at the Ricoh Women’s British Open.  Broche Larsen is on her way up the pro leaderboard.  I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see her finish inside the top 10 in Rio.  This week could be a preview for an Evian Championship high finish as well as an audition for the 2017 Solheim Cup European team.

Representing Morocco, Maha Haddoui is a multidimensional trailblazer.  She’s the only Arab woman to earn full playing status on the Ladies European Tour and she’ll be carrying the athletic hopes and dreams of Arab women in her bag when she takes the tee on Wednesday.  Haddoui, an emerging role model “for aspiring female golfers not only Morocco, but in the entire region,”  is truly an embodiment of golf’s Olympic spirit. 

Playing for Switzerland, Albane Valenzuela is, like Leona Maguire, a standout amateur who seems destined for golf’s big stage.  Valenzuela, who will enter Stanford this fall and play her collegiate golf for the Cardinal, has already established a significant presence in pro golf circles. S he recorded two top 5 2016 finishes on the Ladies European Tour, took low amateur honors at the 2016 ANA Inspiration, and played the weekend at the US Women’s Open. Rio is probably going to be a dress rehearsal for Tokyo for Valenzuela.

Aditi Ashok, another cultural pathbreaker, is an 18-year old rookie on the Ladies European Tour and she’s playing Olympic golf under India’s flag.  While she’s the first Indian woman to earn a professional tour card, Ashok is no stranger to international competition.  She’s represented India three times – at the 2013 Asia Youth Games, and in 2014 at the Youth Olympic Games and the Asian Games.

Golf Channel will be providing live coverage of all four rounds of the Women’s Stroke Play Olympic competition and because this is a no-cut tournament, we’ll have a full menu for 72 holes!  Let’s enjoy every minute of this very special event!

Cover Photo via Twitter