The way she views it, Dewi Weber should not be at the Portland Classic this week. The Dutchwoman qualified for the Olympics under the IOC standards, and with the women's golf competition starting on Aug. 7, all but one LPGA Olympian is not playing at Columbia Edgewater Country Club.
Instead, thanks to the Netherlands Olympic Committee's additional criteria, Weber was deemed not good enough to have a chance for a top-eight finish in the Games. Her own country decided against sending her to Paris.
Weber's opening 36 holes is a resounding counterargument to the Dutch standards. The World No. 336 posted back-to-back rounds with seven consecutive birdies and opened 66-62. Her career-best 10-under round Friday had Weber walk off the course with the first 36-hole lead of her career, ahead by two strokes at 16 under. In her post-round interview. She remained defiant about her homeland's decision.
"We're two rounds in, so we'll see how this all unfolds and if I can really make a statement," Weber said. "Of course, it's in the back of my mind because it's the week before the Olympics. It was something that I was looking forward to. Again, it happened. I did what I could to let it not happen. I did not succeed.
"Some [Dutch male golfers] tried even harder than I did and also ended up not succeeding. It sucks, but all we can do is try to prove why those standards were so silly, and I really hope to do that on Sunday. We'll see."
The Dutch Federation has had its separate qualifying criteria for golf since the sport returned to the Olympics in 2016. On top of the IOC's qualification system, the Netherlands determined its female players needed to be in the top 24 in the Olympic Golf Ranking, and the men needed to be in the top 27. Otherwise, both genders could be in the top 59 in OGR and could choose up to eight tournaments with a strong field in which they needed a top-8 finish. Weber, who was 58th in OGR, did not meet the extra requirement.
Despite numerous pleas from the Netherlands Golf Federation to change their criteria, Anne van Dam was the only one of four Dutch players qualified for the Games by the IOC to be eligible from their own country's standards for Paris. Weber, Darius van Driel, and Joost Luiten did not qualify. Despite against the NGF, it came too late as the Olympics had filled his spot.
The thoughts of a historically loud statement with a 59, only done one other time in LPGA history, entered Weber's mind amidst her birdie barrage Friday. If not for a missed birdie look inside 10 feet on the par-5 12th, she might have had nine straight birdies after posting a 2 on the par-3 13th. She carded one more birdie on the 18th to beat her previous career-best LPGA round by two.
"I was still, like, let's try and make a birdie here, which is such a fun way to play golf," Weber explained. "It's like not being defensive at all. I'm just trying to make birdies everywhere … haven't done that in a while."
The consolation prize for not having a chance to medal is an opportunity for Weber to save her LPGA status. She has spent most of 2024 on the developmental Epson Tour, making only one other LPGA start this season (T-52 in the Shoprite LPGA Classic), due to being buried at 197th on the priority list at the start of the season.
Weber felt that playing the Shoprite wasn't really worth it as she didn't get reshuffled into better LPGA status and missed an opportunity to earn points on Epson, where those in the top 10 at the end of the year get a full LPGA card for 2025. Entering this week, her odds of earning LPGA status through the upper tour were slim, as she was 178th in CME points and needs to finish in the top 100 for full status next season. There was no field to pick between for Weber this week, as the Epson had no event. With most Olympians preparing for Paris, Weber was eligible to play in Portland.
Weber's best argument against the additional Dutch criteria may have come when asked about her time on Epson. She pointed out that her last two starts on the circuit in July resulted in a T-57 and a missed cut, highlighting how even a player struggling on the Epson can emerge to contend on the LPGA.
"I think me missing cuts on Epson Tour," Weber explained, "is kind of like I have the caliber to play here but also I have the caliber to miss cuts on Epson Tour and also have the caliber to play well there as well."