Olympics 2024: Team USA’s Korda, Vu and Zhang aren’t to be forgotten in medal chase

SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France — For the moment, and perhaps for the foreseeable future, the Olympics are not a team event, but for the three American women, all of whom are lingering near the medal stand, the team game might be the best way to attack the final 36 holes at Le Golf National.

World No. 1 Nelly Korda, No. 2 Lilia Vu and No. 9 Rose Zhang all finished the second round under par and in the top 14, but all also are at least three shots away from the medal stand. They each came off the course after Thursday’s second round as much frustrated by what they didn’t get done as confident that they are within striking distance when the opportunity presents itself.

Chief among them is Korda, the defending Olympic gold medalist, who was just two shots off the lead and six under for the day when she stepped to the tee on the watery par-3 16th. Caught between two clubs on the 136-yard hole, which was playing 26 yards shorter than in Round 1, Korda’s “chippy 9-iron” failed to reach dry land. Her third plugged in a greenside bunker and the blast left her 90 feet from the hole. After a missed seven-footer, she walked off with a quadruple-bogey 7. A short miss on 17 gave her another bogey, but she managed to salvage the proceedings with a two-putt birdie on the 18th hole from 82 feet. Her two-under 142 total left her six shots off the lead and three behind third-place Lydia Ko.

“I played 16 holes of really, really solid golf,” said Korda, who ranks fourth in strokes gained/off the tee and sixth in strokes gained/approach the green for the week so far but is 46th in strokes gained/putting. “Just a series of unfortunate events happened in a row, but I ended on a birdie. Overall, I still shot under par. I'm going to try and take the positive.”

That practical but almost resigned approach matched up with Zhang, who similarly got up and down from the fringe on 18 for her closing birdie to also finish at two under for the tournament. Zhang did not give herself a lot of chances, getting up and down from three of the four par 5s for her three birdies on Thursday. Zhang had only one shot closer to the hole than 24 feet all day.

“I was able to grind on par putts and able to keep the round going,” said Zhang, who has hit 17 of 28 fairways but also is second in scrambling. “Overall, I’m pretty satisfied. There are some things I need to adjust but that's kind of just the game plan for the next two days.

“I think obviously you want to be in the fairway, but you also want to give yourself the best chances and opportunities. I think it will be just regular game plan to get in the fairway but also give yourself a decent yardage.”

Vu finished her day at one under and has been basking in the biggest crowds of the week, playing with first-round leader and French favorite Celine Boutier. She feels she’s left a few shots out there by pressing too much. “I think I try a little too hard,” she said. “I'm trying not to be quick to get agitated with the shots that I know I can pull off but don't. I just made too many errors today, but I know my game is in a good spot and it can only get better.

“I need to put myself in better positions for birdie. You can't be 40 feet away or chipping on every hole.”

Again, the Olympics are not a team game, but the Americans now finds themselves all positioned in a similar space, on the outside looking in. Even better all of them could be starting around the same time on Friday. Vu tees off at 5:44 a.m. EDT, followed by Korda at 5:55 and then Zhang at 6:06. Zhang joked they might have to come up with a bet, but it was Korda who provided the most hopeful tone despite the near disaster late in her second round. In fact, she’s relying on another one of her teammates to inspire her the rest of the way.

“I'm going to always try my hardest,” she said. “If I'm hitting it well off the tee, which I was today, and I was hitting good shots in and I was giving myself opportunities, yes. If I'm hitting it bad, then no, it's tough to do that out here. If I would have done this on the last day or let's say the third day, then I would be extremely heartbroken. But it's all about if I can get my whole game together for the next two days.

“I still have 36 more holes and anything can happen. I'm trying to see the positive in this. You know, Scottie came back, shot nine under and he won. So you know, if you're hitting your shots, and you're staying present, I think anything can happen.”

Like, as Scheffler proved with his epic final round charge last week, a gold medal.