Medals are the ultimate prize this week for women in the Olympic golf competition, and while there is no purse, players can earn money.
Many Olympic committees financially incentivize their athletes. For the most recent Games, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee paid athletes $37,500 for gold medals, $22,500 for silver and $15,000 for bronze.
Major exemptions for women’s golf gold medal winner
The winner of the 72-hole, stroke-play event will earn exemptions into all five of the professional women’s majors, including the last one in 2024 and the first four in 2025. Next month’s major is a special one, too, as the AIG Women’s Open will be contested on the Old Course at St. Andrews. Here are the five exemptions:
- 2024 AIG Women’s Open, Aug. 22-25, Old Course (St. Andrews, Scotland)
- 2025 Chevron Championship, April 24-27, The Woodlands (The Woodlands, Texas)
- 2025 U.S. Women’s Open, May 28-June 1, Erin Hills GC (Erin, Wisc.)
- 2025 KPMG Women’s PGA, June 19-22, PGA Frisco (Frisco, Texas)
- 2025 Amundi Evian Championship, July 10-13, Evian Resort (Evian-les-Bains, France)
SEE MORE: Paris Olympics women’s golf: Full field, how to watch Aug. 7-10 at Le Golf National
World ranking points, Hall of Fame point on offer for women golfers
All women in the field will receive world-ranking points via the Rolex Rankings. Nelly Korda earned 37 ranking points for her victory in the 2020 Games.
The winner of the gold medal will also earn one point towards the LPGA Hall of Fame. It takes 27 points for inclusion into the tour’s HOF. New Zealand’s Lydia Ko currently has 26 points. She has also previously earned silver (2016 Rio) and bronze (2020 Tokyo) medals.
© 2024 KOBI-TV NBC5. All rights reserved unless otherwise stated.