The Last Push to Qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics

Gerina Piller celebrated this week’s U.S. Women’s Open and Independence Day by getting new red, white and blue head covers for her golf bag. There’s also no doubt that the signature moment of her career came last September at the Solheim Cup in Germany when Piller, an American rookie participant, had a 3-0-1 record and sank a 9-foot par putt on the final hole to beat Caroline Masson 1-up and keep the American team alive in a dramatic comeback win.

So, this week offers a continuing All-American opportunity for the New Mexico native as she seeks her first LPGA victory in the most iconic women’s event on the LPGA. In concert with the national championship is her status as a representative of the U.S. team in the Rio Olympic Games. The women’s competition is scheduled for Aug. 17-20.

Piller is ranked 16th this week in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, one spot from an automatic spot in the field, as determined by next Monday’s (July 11) rankings. She is just a hair behind No. 15 Anna Nordqvist, who will qualify no matter if she is in the Rolex top 15 next Monday because she is the highest-ranked Swedish player in the world. The top 15 players qualify automatically, with a limit of four golfers per country that can qualify this way. The remaining spots in the 60-player field go to the highest-ranked players from countries that do not already have two golfers qualified.

So, for Piller it’s either move up one spot or watch on television. According to Rolex Rankings calculations, if Piller finishes 17th or better at the U.S. Women’s Open, she has the potential to move up one positon. But that’s dependent upon how other players finish this week and the results on other tours around the world.

Adding to the uncertainty of the situation is the impact that the U.S. Women’s Open has on the rankings. Last year, Republic of Korea’s In Gee Chun moved up 10 spots (to No. 10) and Amy Yang six spots (to No. 9) after finishing first and second, respectively, in the U.S. Women’s Open. Mirim Lee of Republic of Korea dropped three spots (to No. 16) after a T47 finish.

There are other qualifying scenarios to keep an eye on:

• Republic of Korea: The deepest country in women’s golf will field four players for the Olympics but which ones? This week, Inbee Park (No. 3), Sei Young Kim (No. 5), In Gee Chun (No. 6) and Amy Yang (No. 9) are on the team. But Park is sidelined with a left thumb injury and questionable for the Olympics. Plus, Ha Na Jang (No. 10), So Yeon Ryu (No. 11) and Bo Mee Lee (No. 14) are one good finish away from making the team. There are 10 Koreans among the top 20 in the world rankings.

• New Zealand: We know that World No. 1 Lydia Ko will represent New Zealand, but who will join her? Epson Tour player Liv Cheng and left-handed Ladies European Tour player Cathryn Bristow are neck and neck for the final spot. Cheng led by one point last week and is up three points this week. Cheng qualified for this week’s U.S. Women’s Open, with an opportunity to earn lots of points, while Bristow is not playing in the U.S. Women’s Open and has played in only two LPGA events the last two years. Cheng will have an early opportunity to make an impression as she is in the first grouping of the day Thursday at 7:11 a.m. PDT.

• Amateurs: Three amateurs are currently in the 60-player field. They include Ireland’s Leona Maguire, a rising junior at Duke and the second-ranked women’s amateur in the world (behind Hannah O’Sullivan of the U.S.), Switzerland’s Albane Valenzuela, an incoming freshman at Stanford and Hong Kong’s Tiffany Chan, a rising senior at Southern Cal.             

*-A maximum of four players eligible from one country; Republic of Korea has four higher-ranked players.
**-Already qualified based upon being among top two from that country.