Team USA’s Nelly Korda, Rose Zhang and Lilia Vu are within reach of the podium as two rounds remain in the 2024 Olympics.
Round 2 of the women’s golf competition at the 2024 Olympics saw a mixture of play from low to high scores. Team USA is still in contention for one of the three medals, as all three ladies are below par at the halfway point.
World No. 1 Nelly Korda and Rose Zhang each signed for a 2-under 70 on Thursday to sit tied 12th and six shots off the lead. After shooting even par on Wednesday, the duo now sits at 2-under total in the event.
Lilia Vu struggled on Friday but salvaged a 1-over 73 score to sit at 1-under overall in the tournament. She is seven shots back.
Korda was 6-under and bogey-free through 15 holes on Thursday before a double-bogey at the par-3 16th took the wind out of her sails.
Nelly Korda with a solid birdie putt on 15 to move within two shots of the lead.
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) August 8, 2024
Golf Channel and Peacock | #ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/H3idCeSlzW
She added a bogey at 17 to drop to 1-under on the day. However, the 14-time LPGA winner made a clutch birdie on the 18th to go out on a high note.
The top-ranked player got hot on the front nine with four birdies. She picked up shots at the par-5 3rd, par-4 5th, 6th and 9th holes. Korda’s fifth birdie of the day came at the par-3 11th. The sixth came at the par-4 15th, and it looked like the world No. 1 was in the zone.
In strokes gained off the tee, she picked up +1.855, the fourth-best in the second round. Korda also added +1.423 in SG Tee to Green.
Her short game struggled even though she hit 16-of-18 greens in regulation. However, she averages 1.81 putts per green in regulation.
Zhang opened her day with a bogey on the second, but after that hiccup, she kept her scorecard clean. Birdies on the 3rd, 9th, and 18th secured her score of 70.
She is No. 9 in strokes gained putting during the second round, at +1.798. However, she struggled around the green. Zhang lost -0.570 in strokes gained around the green, which is No. 41 in the 60-person field.
Off the tee has not been great for her, either. Zhang only hit 8-of-14 fairways on Thursday. She hit 12-of-18 greens in regulation, but it was not enough to get things going.
Vu could not find much rhythm. She made a birdie at the par 4 6th to finally get her day going, but then she made a double bogey and bogeyed the next two holes. Vu dropped her third shot at the Par 5 14th.
She redeemed herself a touch, but those three shots proved costly. Vu currently sits tied for 14th.
Her short game proved to be her biggest weakness. Vu lost shots around the green (-0.321) and in strokes gained putting (-0.496).
While they are within reach, all three must hit the accelerator and go low to win one of the three medals.
Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @golf_girl_sl.
