2024 Paris Olympics Golf

Who are your guesses for the Korean team in 2028? I'll go with Hae Ran and Ina Yoon!

My guess is not a retirement for Lydia just yet but an extended break, after which she will come back and win some more.

Lydia has said on Instagram she won't be defending in 2028. I expect her to play out the rest of this season and then take an extended break. She deserves it!

Congrats to Lydia. I'll admit that I've never warmed to her, so it doesn't give me any particular joy to see her get this. But at least it keeps the streak alive of three really great players getting gold. Imagine if Henseleit or Metraux had won it?



But for me this is a really bittersweet result. Amy Yang was one putt away from getting a medal AGAIN. I freeze framed on 18 when she had that eagle try, because I knew it was a must make and given the way things have gone most of this season, it just seemed certain she was going to miss it by inches. But I kept it there for a minute and imagined how amazing an end to her career it would be if she could get the medal that she probably should have had eight years ago were it not for... you guessed it, Lydia.



But yeah, the golf gods did what I was predicting: Amy got really close but no cigar. Still, all you can ask for as a fan is for players you like to have those chances. The ball didn't drop for her, she didn't get the one more break she needed to get the medal, but near misses have been the theme of her entire career, much like getting everything she wants has been the theme for Lydia's career. But in the end, the Thais and the Japanese were also on the outside looking in despite coming close. As a week, it could have been worse for the Koreans.



My Karnac impersonation was thankfully more wrong than right. For the medalists, I got Lydia right, but Korda screwed the pooch. All she needed was a 70, so I think I had a good chance of being right on that one. For a while it looked like Yin was going to get a medal, but in the end it was an entirely different Chinese player who got it. Totally didn't see that coming. And I had forgotten about Rose Zhang; if she had gotten a medal we would never have heard the end of it. Is Beth Ann still doing the Generational Talent thing with her? Haven't paid attention lately.



I did much better in my predictions of the Sisters' results. I nailed Jin Young's day right down to her score, and also predicted Amy's final two days, but missed slightly on Hyo Joo, who did a tad better than I thought she would. Right from the first tee on Wednesday, the weaknesses Jin Young has struggled with did her in. Her tendency to hit left killed her right from her very first tee shot, and her putting was good but never great. It's a pity, but I think this is the final time any of these three will have this chance. I would be amazed if Jin Young is still playing in 2028 and, if she is, that she is still relevant by then. An Olympic medal will always be one of the things that she will never have in her trophy room.







In all, I think this was a better week than Tokyo but a worse one than Rio. The Sisters were an afterthought in Tokyo, whereas here at least one of them had a legit chance. One medal out of 11 athletes over three Olympics is not a great batting average, but here's hoping the next one will have some of the new great Koreans stars ready to contend for the podium. Hwaiting!

Due to a combination of vacation travel and the time zone difference, I saw very little of the live action.

My takeaway is how unlikely the list of countries NOT winning medals was. I wonder, prior to the tournament, what the odds would have been that no golfer from any of these countries would earn a medal.
No USA
No ROK
No Thailand
No Japan
No France (home country advantage)
No UK (home continent advantage)
No Sweden (home continent advantage)

Congrats to Lydia, Esther, and Xiyu Janet!

No worries HF, Ina Yoon will make the 28 team on her own merit.