Olympic golf 2016: Live updates, scores, leaderboard, highlights and more from Rio

Women are playing golf in the Olympics for the first time since 1900 and, unlike the theatrics over high-profile dropouts that threatened to overshadow the men’s event, Lydia Ko et al will kick off their chase for the gold with few, if any, off-field distractions

While 21 men — including the pre-Rio Fab Four, Jason Day, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, and Rory McIlroy (now ranked fifth in the world) — were no-shows, only one of the top 10 players in the world won’t be in Rio. Because only four players from a country may qualify, 10th-ranked Ha-Na Jang will have to watch from home.

Just one woman — South Africa’s Lee-Anne Pace — chose to skip the festivities, for fear of coming down with the Zika virus, and it would seem time for everyone to stop asking all the women who are in Rio why their male counterparts were no-shows.

“I can’t speak for somebody else. Everybody has their own decisions,” world No. 1 Ko said on Monday. “I’m pretty sure that they would have watched the games, watched how the guys are playing, and a lot of them would have said, ‘Hey, that’s such a great vibe, I wish I was there, too.’”

No doubt, the women stand to gain more from the global exposure of the Olympics than the men, who play on “a huge global stage” every week, LPGA Tour commissioner Mike Whan told Golf Channel’s Rich Lerner on Tuesday.

“This was going to be a stage like we’ve never played on before,” Whan said. “For women’s golf, we’re going to get the biggest stage we’ve ever played on.”

With that in mind, Whan constructed the 2016 calendar with a three-week hiatus — a break before, during, and after the summer games — to accommodate the Olympics. The PGA Tour, on the other hand, scheduled tournaments not only on either side of the Olympics, but while Justin Rose was outdueling Henrik Stenson on Sunday as well. That, by the way, pretty much tells you all you need to know about how important the Olympics were to the suits in Ponte Vedra.

For Whan, fitting the Olympics into the program was a no-brainer.

“I found it difficult to think that 45, 55 players from the LPGA would play here,” he said, “and actually … fall behind on the season money list.”

Final-round results and highlights

Inbee Park strolled to the gold in Rio, with Lydia Ko capturing the silver and Shanshan Feng the bronze.

Park left her playing partners, Ko and Gerina Piller, in her dust with a final-round 5-under 66 to match her previous 66-66-70, to get to 16-under 268 for the week and five shots clear of Ko. Indeed, though Ko sunk a birdie putt on the 72nd hole to claim second place, the finale was only a contest for runner-up after Park posted three straight birdies early, on holes three through five.

Birdies on two of her final four holes put an exclamation point on a run-away win for the seven-time major winner who had been sidelined since early June with a thumb injury and only decided to compete in Rio about a month ago -- despite concerns in her native South Korea about whether she should step aside for a healthier player.

Suffice to say, the pressure on Park to perform well — and win — was immense.

“I had a lot of attention coming into this week,” said Park. “There was a little bit of confusion for me whether I could perform well this week or not because I really haven’t performed well this year because of the injury … I’ve worked really hard for this week and it paid off so I’m really happy.”

Ko and Piller entered the final round at 9-under, two shots back of Park, who quickly shot ahead of the pack, which included Feng at 8-under. Lydia being Lydia, the world No. 1 birdied three of her last five holes and — as is the habit of golf’s “youngest ever” almost everything — became the youngest Olympian from New Zealand to grab a medal.

“Today not many putts were falling,” said the winner of two majors titles. “But for a crucial putt like that on the 18th to fall, I think I celebrated like the gold medalist.”

Piller, who appeared on her way to becoming the leading American in Rio, faltered on day four, shooting a disappointing 74.

“I take a lot of positives away from it,” she said. “It’s a tough day but I’m just going to work harder and keep going.”

Instead, Stacy Lewis, who matched a course-record 63 on Friday only to fall down the leaderboard with a third-round 76, rebounded with a finishing 66 that left her (and two others) just one shot shy of a potential playoff with Feng for the bronze.

“To bounce back, the way I did yesterday, and to have a chance to hopefully get a medal today, was all I could have asked for,” said Lewis. “You’re not so much looking at who’s in first and second. You’re kind of looking at that third place number a little bit more. I’m always trying to move up the leaderboard on Sunday no matter what position I’m in.”

Most of the competitors would likely agree that the week in Rio exceeded all expectations. No doubt, Ko spoke for many, if not all, when she extolled the thrill of competing in the Olympics.

“Since 2009 [when the International Olympic Committee voted to add golf to the 2016 and 2020 summer games], I’ve just dreamt and imagined myself to be here in Rio alongside the world’s best athletes,” said Ko. “Having this silver medal is just a dream come true. The Olympics isn’t about [whether] somebody lost to another player. It celebrates each and every athlete and we’ve all won. This week has just been surreal.”

And that’s a wrap from an eventful two weeks of Olympic golf in Rio.

Third-round results and highlights

It was the Lydia Ko Show in the third round of the Olympics. The world No. 1 had been atypically quiet in her first two days in Rio, but she made a whole lot of noise on Friday with an ace on the par-3 eighth.

Moments before Ko’s eagle-1, China’s Xiyu Lin knocked her tee shot in on the same hole.

“First hole in one in my whole entire life,” Ko said after finishing with a 6-under 65 to get to 9-under for the week — just two shots shy of frontrunner Inbee Park, the winner of seven major titles, and in a tie for second with American Gerina Piller. “I didn’t really expect it to go in but when it finally dropped I thought I was going to cry almost.”

Park, of South Korea, and the United States’ Stacy Lewis, two formerly top-ranked players, perhaps could relate, though for starkly different reasons. Park got off to a quick start with three birdies in her first five holes but, with five bogeys for the day, including one on the par-5 18th, she briefly lost her 36-hole-plus advantage to Gerina Piller. She got the lead back when Piller faltered with her own bogey at the last and was able to maintain a slim edge heading into Saturday’s finale.

Coming off a sizzling, second-round 63 to tie the course record, Lewis was ice cold on Friday, making just two birdies to go with five bogeys and a double, on 18, to limp in with a 76 and in a tie for eighth. The two-time major winner was looking up at countrywoman Piller (68), one of three members of TeamUSA. Piller went out in 31, thanks to four birdies, including three straight on holes 5, 6, and 7. Even a closing bogey, her second on the back nine, did little to dampen her spirits.

“That’s one of my best rounds,” said Piller, who has yet to win on the LPGA Tour but has eight top 10s in 2016. “I like my position [and] where my game is.”

A favorite to climb the podium on Sunday was unable to make it through Friday. Reigning Women’s British Open champion Ariya Jutanugarn withdrew with a knee injury after a lackluster 13 holes of the third round.

Second-round results and highlights

The only thing hotter on the Rio Olympic Golf Course in Thursday’s second round than Stacy Lewis’ sunburned shoulders was the American’s putter. Thanks to stellar work on the greens and 11 birdies to go with one bogey and a double, the American fired an 8-under 63 to match Marcus Fraser’s first-round and Matt Kuchar’s final-round scores in the men’s event last week.

The two-time major winner left the course with the lead — until Inbee Park finished her day with two consecutive birdies and a second straight 66. The South Korean will begin Friday’s third round one-up on Lewis.

Then there was Brooke Henderson, who went on a birdie binge of her own. Birds on five of her final six holes launched the pride of Canada into a third-place tie with England’s Charley Hull.

The pace in round two was less glacial than opening day, when it took some players about five and a half hours to get around the track and Lewis said describing play as slow was “putting it nicely.” Despite the brisker clip, Brazil’s Victoria Lovelady incurred the first slow-play penalty in the Olympics.

After receiving a warning on the 10th hole for lallygagging, Lovelady was assessed the one-shot penalty on the 15th, turning her par into a bogey. Lovelady, who ended the day with a 75 and in 56th place out of 60 players, blamed crowd noise for making her “back off a lot of shots,” according to multiple reports.

First-round results and highlights

Women’s British Open winner Ariya Jutanugarn set the pace with a 6-under 66 in Wednesday’s opening round. The 20-year-old Thai’s score was the lowest in women’s Olympic history, though you have to go all the way back to 1900 to look up scores for the last time the women teed it up in the summer games.

Just one shot off the lead heading into Day 2 are seven-time major champion Inbee Park and Sei Young Kim. Park has been on the DL since early June with a thumb injury but the only place the rust showed was on the greens, where she missed a bunch of putts within 10 feet. She still shot a 66 and will certainly have Jutanugarn hearing footsteps on Thursday.

Also in the hunt, to no one’s surprise is Lydia Ko. The world No. 1 got off to a rocky start but a hole-out for eagle on the par-4 15th put her at 2-under and squarely in the hunt for the gold.

Lexi Thompson was the low American of the three members of TeamUSA. The 2014 Kraft Nabisco champ carded a 68, though she was no doubt unhappy a bogey on the par-5 18th to end her day. Gerina Piller, on the other hand, birdied the final hole and will start Thursday’s second round tied with Ko at 2-under. Newlywed Stacy Lewis also scored a birdie on 18 and came in at 1-under and in a tie for 19th place.

When 60 players representing 34 countries tee off on Rio’s Olympic Golf Course starting at 6:30 a.m. ET Wednesday morning, it will be the first time women have played golf in the Olympics since 1900.

Players’ standings in the Rolex Rankings determined eligibility, with some qualifiers. A country may send up to four players to the games as long as they are all among the top 15. Countries with fewer than two players ranked in then top 15 may send just two competitors.

At least one woman player from Brazil had a guaranteed spot in the Olympics; Miriam Nagl and Victoria Lovelady (neither of whom is in the top 400) will represent the home country, with Nagl hitting the first tee shot on Wednesday morning.

Last week’s contestants raved about Gil Hanse’s newly architected venue, which — with no trees or typical rough, and built on a former sand quarry, with 79 sand bunkers — reminds many of Australia’s sandbelt courses (though with a few capybaras and caimans you won’t find Down Under roaming the fairways).

The course is divided into three sections — the natural, sandy upper part; the wet middle section; and the lower section that runs along a lagoon and through a forest. A prevailing 10 m.p.h.-15 m.p.h. wind blows steadily and may have more of an impact this week than last.

Hot and dry conditions have firmed up an already firm 6,245-yard track, which should afford more roll on the fairways but make it tougher to hold shots on the greens. Ko believes that will require players to be creative and hit lower shots that land short and run up, while higher shots may land over mounds and not get much roll at all.

Having LPGA Hall of Famer Amy Alcott as a design consultant ensured that men and women would be hitting similar clubs into the greens. Landing areas for the women, though, will be farther down on each hole so, as Hanse explained it, the “shot values” will be the same.

“I’m pretty sure I do not hit a 9‑iron at the same place Bubba Watson is hitting a 9‑iron,” Ko said.

As with the men, the final three holes will provide an exciting finish that could involve birdies and eagles on the drivable par-4 16th, the short par-3 17th, and the risk-reward par-5 18th.

All times Eastern

Event: Women’s competition, 6 a.m.

TV: Golf Channel, 6 a.m. to approximately 3 p.m.

Online streaming:

NBC Olympics simulcast stream at 6 a.m.

NBC Olympics featured holes stream, Nos. 1, 17-18

With poor weather predicted for Saturday afternoon in Rio, threesomes will go off split tees (Nos. 1 and 10), starting at 6 a.m. ET. The hope is that, barring a glacial pace and/or playoffs, the women will wrap up by about 1 p.m., with the medal ceremony following immediately afterward.

The leaders — 36- and 54-hole leader Inbee Park of South Korea, world No. 1, New Zealand’s Lydia Ko, and American Gerina Piller, are set to start their final round at 7:44 a.m. off No. 1 for Saturday’s final round in Rio. Despite blustery wind that affected scoring, Ko drilled a hole-in-one on Friday to card day’s low round, a bogey-free 65, and get into the ultimate grouping and a tie for second with Giller. Park holds a two-shot edge heading into the finale.

Here’s a complete roster of the groupings for Saturday’s round 4 (all times ET):

Saturday’s Round 4 tee sheet

Tee No. 1
6:05 a.m.: Alejandra Llaneza, Gaby Lopez, Catriona Matthew
6:16 a.m.: Caroline Masson, Sandra Gal, Stephanie Meadow
6:27 a.m.: Pornanong Phatlum, Sei Young Kim, Leona Maguire
6:38 a.m.: Marianne Skarpnord, Albane Valenzuela, Candie Kung
6:49 a.m.: Azahara Munoz, Harukyo Nomura, Teresa Lu
7:00 a.m.: Brooke Henderson, Stacy Lewis, Nanna Koersta Madsen
7:11 a.m.: Suzann Pettersen, Anna Nordqvist, Minjee Lee
7:22 a.m.: Charley Hull Su Oh, Paula Reto
7:33 a.m.: Shanshan Feng, Hee Young yang, In Gee Chun
7:44 a.m.: Inbee Park, Lydia Ko, Gerina Piller

Tee No. 10
6:00 a.m.: Mariajo Uribe, Lexi Thompson, Aditi Ashok
6:11 a.m.: Pernilla Lindberg, Laetitia Beck, Alena Sharp
6:22 a.m.: Julieta Granada, Nicole Broch Larsen, Christine Wolf
6:33 a.m.: Carlota Ciganda, Maria Verchenova, Karine Icher
6:44 a.m.: Gwladys Nocera Pucet, Shiho Oyama, Tiffany Chan
6:55 a.m.: Xiyu Lin, Klara Spilkova, Noora Tamminen
7:06 a.m.: Ashleigh Simon, Ursula Wikstrom, Kelly Tan
7:17 a.m.: Michelle Koh, Fabienne In-Albon, Chloe Leurquin
7:28 a.m.: Miriam Nagl, Giulia Sergas, Giulia Molinaro
7:39 a.m.: Victoria Lovelady, Maha Haddioui

Follow the leaderboard all four days here: