Olympics Paris 2024 Women’s Golf Tips: Four to win gold

After Scottie Scheffler won a thrilling contest in the Men’s Olympics golf tournament last week, the women now get their chance to tackle Le Golf National in this 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

Our golf tipster Jamie Worsley takes us through his guide to the event and has picked out four each-way selections to win Gold. You can read why and all of his Women's Olympics Paris 2024 Golf Tips in his in-depth preview below...

*You can get all the latest Women's Olympics Paris 2024 Golf Odds and bet on the event with us at betfred.com

TOURNAMENT HISTORY

There was a women’s competition included in the 1900 Olympics in Paris – won by American, Margaret Abbott – however, having not been included alongside the men’s contest in St. Louis in 1904, we had to wait 116 years to see women’s golf once again a part of the event.

There, at the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Golf Course, Korea’s Inbee Park won the gold medal by an impressive five strokes over Lydia Ko. She had to settle for the silver, with Shanshan Feng taking home the bronze for China.

Nelly Korda claimed the gold medal in the delayed 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, where she beat home favourite Mone Inami and Lydia Ko by one shot. Inami then denied Ko a second consecutive silver medal in a playoff, with the New Zealander instead adding a bronze to her collection.

Nelly is back to defend her title this week in what has been an incredible year for the American, whilst Lydia Ko also returns, hoping to complete the set and finally claim that gold medal.

THE COURSE

Unlike many of the men last week, the ladies will be playing Le Golf National as professionals for the first time. However, there are two players with the advantage of a spin around the course from the 2022 Espirito Santo Trophy (World Amateur Team Championship); an event in which Rose Zhang topped the individual leaderboard– as well as finishing 2^nd as part of Team USA in the team aspect - and where Germany’s Alexandra Forsterling finished 16^th individually and 3^rd as part of Team Germany.

The course was first designed by the team of Hubert Chesneau and Robert von Hagge in 1990, before undergoing renovations at the hands of the European Golf Design group in preparation for the Ryder Cup in 2018. Despite some good scoring from the men last week, It has traditionally provided one of the sternest tests on DP World Tour, averaging a winning score of -10.7 over the last 10 renewals of the Open de France. Whilst it is also worth noting that in that 2022 amateur event, the individual winning score after 72 holes was single digits under par.

The only difference this week will be the yardage and par, with Le Golf National playing as a 6374 par 72 for the ladies; the par 4 18^th converted into a par 5 for this week’s event. It possesses 10x par 4s (359-434 yards), 4x par 5s (447-499 yards) and 4x par 3s (144-161 yards).

This open and exposed stadium course is linksy in style, with tall mounds – which provide a fantastic vantage point for fans – framing most holes. Although, the most prominent and intimidating design feature is without doubt the numerous water hazards; coming into play on 10 holes in total.

The rolling fairways are around average width overall, with a reasonably even split between narrow and wide landing areas. There is some strategic bunkering on several and the ryegrass/fescue rough which lines many of these manmade mounds can be very punishing the further you stray from the short stuff.

The large poa annua/bentgrass mixed greens are fairly undulating and usually easy to hit in the Open de France. However, with most of these surfaces placed at an angle to the fairway position and narrow/shallow in shape, pin positions can be tough and players will need to be at their most precise in approach to conquer them.

The punishment for missing them is severe. Many of the greens are well bunkered, whilst run-offs can lead into the various swales and hollows that surround them, and with more of that thick rough again punishing the most wayward ball-strikers, the course ranks 2^nd in scrambling difficulty on the DPWT.

As mentioned, water plays a major role at Le Golf National and makes for an exciting, perilous finish, with 15, 16 and 18 all playing around the same lake.

The 377-yard par 4 15^th has water right of a generous fairway, with players then tasked with finding a small green surrounded by water. Following that, they will move on to the 150-yard par 3 16^th. Going short here is a no go, with water short-right and three bunkers short-left.

The field moves away from the water briefly on the 397-yard par 4 17^th. Although, this right-to-left doglegging hole is not without danger, with the narrow fairway and smallish green both tough to find.

The final hole is typically a daunting one but now converted to a 447-yard par 5 instead of a difficult par 4, it takes on a different role this week. It’s a perfect risk/reward end to the event and should ensure we have drama right up until the final shot is holed on Saturday.

THE WEATHER

Players will be welcomed by some great golfing weather just outside of Paris this week, with warm, bright and clear conditions predicted throughout the event. With wind largely mild, barring some gusts on Friday, the field should have little complaint about the playing conditions.

KEY STATS

• SG: Approach
• SG: Off-the-Tee
• SG: Putting (poa/bent)
• Par 5 Scoring

Whilst we’re not entirely sure how the course will play for the ladies this week and whether different skills will be required, we did again see how far strong ball-striking can take you at Le Golf National last week. Scottie Scheffler ranked 1^st in approach and 3^rd off-the-tee, and every member of the top-8 ranked inside the top-20 in each of those areas.

Players who have putted well on a poa/bent mixed surfaces should be respected. Indeed of last week’s top-4, three ranked top-10 on the greens.

Additionally, the par 5s look extra-important here. They’re all gettable for every player in this field and those not making their fair share of birdies on them will struggle to get/stay involved.

CORRELATING EVENTS

We don’t have any comp form to call on this week, though there are a handful of events/courses that I felt could provide clues as to likely performers at Le Golf National.

The first three that appeal are the Shoprite LPGA Classic at Seaview’s Bay Course, The Ascendant LPGA at Old American Golf Club and the Mizuho Americas Open at Liberty National Golf Club. All three courses are exposed, with average-width fairways, similar rough and some strong strategic bunkering. Tall mounds lines many fairways/greens around the Bay Course, whilst water hazards are a huge danger at Liberty National.

Two other courses that I felt may be worth considering are Bradenton Golf Club, host of this year’s LPGA Drive On Championship and Pelican Golf Club, which hosts The ANNIKA. Each of these Florida courses are very spacious and feature lots of water in-play.

THE FIELD

This week’s field contains nine of the world’s top-10 and 20 of the top-25. Defending champion, Nelly Korda heads the lot as world #1 and is joined by two further Americans, in the shape of #2 Lilia Vu and #9 Rose Zhang.

South Korea are the only other nation represented by three players, with Jin Young Ko, Amy Yang and Hyo Joo Kim all inside the top-15 when the field was finalised.

Charley Hull and Georgia Hall will fly the flag for Team GB, with both chasing an elusive first medal for GB in the women’s event. Meanwhile, Celine Boutier will be hoping to lean on the home fans much like she did in last year’s Evian Championship win; Perrine Delacour completes the home contingent.

Other notable entries include 11-time JLPGA winner, Miyu Yamashita; four-time LET winner, Alexandra Forsterling; and this year’s US Women’s Open winner, Yuka Saso.

SELECTIONS

Market leaders: Nelly Korda 4/1, Atthaya Thitikul 17/2, Lilia Vu 9/1, Jin Young Ko 11/1, Brooke Henderson 14/1, Rose Zhang 16/1, Linn Grant 16/1

Nelly Korda is a fairly strong favourite this week despite her somewhat regressive form compared to how she was playing earlier in the year. This means that there’s a little more value knocking around than you’d expect for this limited, top-heavy field and after a trio of quality performances in our last three majors, I’m taking Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim to become an Olympic champion this week.

2.5 pts Hyo Joo Kim each-way (1/4, 5 places) @ 18/1

Kim hardly played poorly at the start of the season, missing just one cut across her first seven starts and recording two top-10s. However, it wasn’t at the level of performance we were used to seeing from her.

She’s started to look much stronger since winning for the first time in 2024 in the Aramco Series – Korea event. Though missing the cut in the Meijer LPGA Classic, she has performed stoutly in the last three majors, finishing 12^th in the US Women’s Open, 16^th in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and when we last saw her, she was 12^th in the Evian Championship.

The short game has been expectedly strong, as she ranks 16^th in putting and she’s driven it well, displaying that accuracy that we’ve become to expect, ranking 5^th in driving accuracy. Her approach play had been a concern, but with her two best iron performances of the year coming in those last two major outings, she appears to have turned a corner with the clubs.

Kim finished 15^th on her Olympic debut three years ago in Japan. As a winner of The Ascendant LPGA and finishing runner-up in the Shoprite Classic, Le Golf National looks a good fit, and with the biggest win of her career coming in France at the 2014 Evian Championship, she should be feeling positive heading to Paris this week.

1.5 pts Lydia Ko each-way (1/4, 5 places) @ 30/1

Lydia Ko has an exceptional Olympic record and having returned to form with a top-10 finish in Canada a few weeks ago, she may just be hitting form at the right time to finally upgrade herself to a gold medal this week.

Ko was in fine form at the start of the season, winning the Tournament of Champions and following with further finishes of 2^nd and 4^th across her next six starts. Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to maintain this level of play, going on to miss two cuts and had failed to record a top-30 in her last five starts prior to the CPKC Women’s Open.

She halted her slide there, finishing 8^th and producing her second-best putting performance of the season, whilst also looking strong in approach and around-the-greens. These are areas in which she often does a lot of her best work - ranking top-25 in all areas this season – and as someone who usually scores well on the par 5s, Le Golf National would look a strong fit if the New Zealander is now back in form.

That is something that is backed up by her possessing top-4 finishes in four of the comp courses mentioned. As a player who clearly relishes playing in this environment - based on her silver and bronze medals at the last two editions – Ko looks a dangerous contender for the gold medal this week.

1 pt Maja Stark each-way (1/4, 5 places) @ 45/1

Maja Stark’s strong driving ability should allow her to play with more confidence than most around this watery layout. As someone who has thrived when representing more than just herself, she should relish making her Olympic debut this week.

Stark’s year so far has been defined by a four-week spell from the end of March-April where she threatened to record a first win in the U.S several times. Two starts after finishing 3^rd in the Ford Championship, she went close to a major breakthrough when finishing runner-up to Nelly Korda in the Chevron Championship and immediately followed with a 2^nd-place finish in the JM Eagle LA Championship.

She did miss her next two cuts after that but has been back on an upwards curve across her last three starts, recording finishes of 60^th in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, 39^th in the Evian Championship and she was 19^th in the Dana Open when we last saw her.

The Swede’s driving has been key to her form this year, combining power with accuracy to rank 21^st off-the-tee. Whilst her precision iron play has been lacking, she’s still hitting plenty of greens and it’s also been a positive to see her rediscover her touch on the greens recently, ranking top-20 on those last two starts.

Stark is making her debut in this event and has little in the way of comp form. Having said that, I have been taken by her history when representing Sweden, as part of the winning team in the 2018/19/20 European Ladies Team Championship. She transferred a similar attitude to her Solheim Cup debut in Spain last year, winning 2.5 from 4 points and I suspect this excitable personality will be savouring every moment of wearing her nation’s colours this week.

1 pt Albane Valenzuela each-way (1/4, 5 places) @ 90/1

I’m going to finish with Albane Valenzuela. This excellent iron player has been in consistent form all year and as a Swiss golfer with a French mother, she plenty of reasons to feel at home in Paris.

Valenzuela has missed just three cuts in 15 starts this year and has recorded three top-25 finishes. Her best effort came when finishing 2^nd in the Honda LPGA Thailand and she produced her second top-10 finish of the season four starts ago, finishing 9^th in the Shoprite LPGA Classic.

She’s been pretty strong across her tee-to-green game this season, ranking 17^th. Though it’s in approach that she has excelled, ranking 7^th. Whilst the putter has been a concern for most of the season, she has found something on the greens lately, recording three of her five best strokes-gained performances of the season over her last four LPGA starts. With several of those coming on similar poa/bent mixed surfaces, she should appreciate the challenge at Le Golf National.

Valenzuela has played in each of the two recent Olympics events, finishing 21^st as an amateur in Rio in 2016 and improved on that to finish 18^th in Japan in 2021. With finishes of 4^th, 6^th and 9^th in the Shoprite Classic, she has some appealing form on one of the comp courses and can use these experiences to improve again on her third Olympic start this week.

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