Five from Sun Devil Women's Golf Competing at Paris Olympics

PARIS - Arizona State will be heavily featured in the upcoming Women's Golf competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The women's golf tournament at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games takes place at Le Golf National from August 7-10. This will be the third time golf has been on the Olympic program since its return in Rio 2016 after a 112-year hiatus. The first Olympic golf tournament was played at Paris 1900, with the sport dropped after the St Louis Games in 1904.

Sun Devil Women's Golf has more representatives than any other collegiate women's golf program. Five Arizona State products will be competing for a spot on the podium starting on Wednesday. Both of the Spanish qualifiers are Sun Devils, with Carlota Ciganda and Azahara Munoz each making their third Olympic appearance. The other three Sun Devils will be making their Olympic debut, as Linn Grant (Sweden), Alessandra Fanali (Italy), and Alexandra Forsterling (Germany) each earned a spot in the premier International competition.

"We could not be more proud to have five fantastic golfers representing our program," Sun Devil Women's Golf Head Coach Missy Farr-Kaye remarked. "They have all worked so hard and are an excellent example of what can be achieved at Arizona State."

Five of the 60 total golfers teeing-off at Le Golf National played their collegiate golf at Arizona State, an indication of successful student-athlete development. This is the fourth straight Olympics that at least four Sun Devils will be participating in, with ASU the only school that can make that claim. Eight different Sun Devils have represented five countries over the course of the past three Olympics.

"Having the most Olympic golfers of any program is a tremendous accomplishment for Arizona State," Coach Farr-Kaye added. "It shows that the efforts that we have made in identifying and developing the top student-athletes in the World have paid off."

The action starts on Wednesday, Aug. 7 with the first threesome beginning their round at 12 AM MST. The first Sun Devils to begin their Olympic run will be Linn Grant and Carlota Ciganda, who are paired together in the 1:22 AM MST/10:22 AM Local group. The other three Sun Devils follow throughout the morning, completing the first of three rounds on Wednesday. The format is a 72-hole individual stroke play event and unlike most professional tournaments, there is no halfway cut, meaning all 60 women will play all four rounds.

THE FIELD
A total of 60 women will tee it up at Le Golf National on Aug. 7. These were decided by the official International Golf Federation (IGF) world ranking list on June 24 with the Top-15 securing spots at the Games subject to a maximum of four players per National Olympic Committee (NOC). Outside the top 15, places went to the next 45 in the rankings with a maximum of two per NOC and at least one player from each continent. With three players apiece, Republic of Korea and the United States are the only nations with more than two representatives in the Olympic women's tournament.

TEE TIMES (Wednesday, Aug. 7)
1:22 AM MST/10:22 AM Local - Linn Grant
1:22 AM MST/10:22 AM Local - Carlota Ciganda
1:33 AM MST/10:33 AM Local - Alessandra Fanali
2:06 AM MST/11:06 AM Local - Azahara Munoz
2:17 AM MST/11:17 AM Local - Alexandra Forsterling

FULL SCHEDULE (Aug. 7-10)

HOW TO WATCH
The Olympic Games will be shown live in over 200 countries with most offering a range of events at any one time. NBC and the streaming service Peacock will broadcast the action in the United States while the BBC and Discovery+ are the rights holders in the UK. Nine is the official broadcaster in Australia with European viewers relying on Eurosport and Discovery+. Check local listings for details elsewhere.

"We will be getting up early to watch all five Sun Devils in Paris," Coach Farr-Kaye boasted. "They have a tremendous opportunity to bring notoriety to the program and deserve our support."

NCAA WOMEN'S GOLF PROGRAMS AT THE OLYMPICS
Arizona State, 5
UCLA, 4
Duke, 3
Arkansas, 2
Stanford, 2
New Mexico State, 2

MOST REPRESENTATIVES FROM ASU BY SPORT
Sun Devil Women's Golf - 5
Sun Devil Men's Swimming - 5
Sun Devil Women's Water Polo - 4
Sun Devil Men's Golf - 3
Sun Devil Track & Field - 3 (2 women; 1 men)

SUN DEVIL WOMEN'S GOLF AT THE OLYMPICS (8 Total Olympians)
BY YEAR
2024 Paris (5)
Carlota Ciganda
Alessandra Fanali
Alexandra Forsterling
Linn Grant
Azahara Munoz
2020 Tokyo (4)
Carlota Ciganda
Azahara Munoz
Giulia Molinaro
Anna Nordqvist
2016 Rio (4)
Carlota Ciganda
Azahara Munoz
Miriam Nagl
Anna Nordqvist

BY PLAYER
Carlota Ciganda - Paris 2024, Tokyo 2020, Rio 2016
Alessandra Fanali - Paris 2024
Alexandra Forsterling - Paris 2024
Linn Grant - Paris 2024
Azahara Munoz - Paris 2024, Tokyo 2020, Rio 2016
Giulia Molinaro - Tokyo 2020, Rio 2016
Miriam Nagl - Rio 2016
Anna Nordqvist - Tokyo 2020, Rio 2016

BY COUNTRY
Spain
Carlota Ciganda - 2024, 2020, 2016
Azahara Munoz - 2024, 2020, 2016
Italy
Alessandra Fanali - 2024
Giulia Molinaro - 2020, 2016
Sweden
Linn Grant - 2024
Anna Nordqvist - 2020, 2016
Germany
Alexandra Forsterling - 2024
Brazil
Miriam Nagl - 2016

Carlota Ciganda, Spain - 1:22 AM MST/10:22 AM Local
Carlota Giganda played at Arizona State from 2007-11 and was a first-team All-American her final three seasons and became the first back-to-back Pac-10 champion in springs of 2009 and 2010. She defeated Juliana Murcia in a playoff to capture second consecutive Pac-10 Championship at the Eugene Country Club in 2010 and recorded her first collegiate tournament win at the 2009 Pac-10 Championships where she won a playoff against teammate Jennifer Osborn and USC's Jennifer Song. She shot a career-best 10-under 206 (67-68-71) to take medalist honors at the 2009 NCAA West Regional and finished tied for 11th at the NCAA Championships to help lead the Sun Devils to their seventh NCAA title and first since 1998.

Azahara Munoz, Spain - 2:06 AM MST/11:06 AM Local
Azahara Munoz competed at Arizona State from 2005-09 and captured the 2008 NCAA title in dramatic fashion, winning in a playoff to become the ninth Sun Devil to win the NCAA title. She buried a clutch 25-foot putt to defeat UCLA's Tiffany Joh in the winner-take-all playoff. She also led Arizona State to the 2009 NCAA title (she finished fourth), its seventh in school history and first since 1998. She was the third four-time All-American program history. She earned first-team All-Pac-10 in each of her four seasons and compiled an incredible 31 top-10 finishes in 39 career appearances. She was the first two-time recipient of the prestigious Edith Cummings Munson Award, given to the top collegiate female golfer nationally who also excels in academics. Munoz graduated summa cum laude with a 3.98 in psychology. She earned 2009 Pac-10 Scholar of the Year, was a four-time NGCA Academic All-American and two-time ESPN The Magazine First-Team Academic All-American. She finished as the runner-up at the 2008 U.S. Women's Amateur, won the 2009 Ladies British Amateur Championship and competed for Spain in the 2006 Women's World Amateur. Represented Spain at the Rio Olympics, one of five Sun Devils competing for their country in the 2016 Summer Games.

Linn Grant, Sweden - 1:22 AM MST/10:22 AM Local
Two-time first-team All-American Linn Grant made the most of her time in Tempe, putting together one of the best two-year (2019-21) careers of any player in NCAA history. The native of Viken, Sweden completed one of the best freshman seasons by a Sun Devil and built upon that with a brilliant sophomore season, as she reached the No. 1 spot in the Golfstat Rankings heading into the 2021 NCAA Championship, the first in program history to do so. The two-time WGCA Player of the Year candidate led Arizona State to their second NCAA Match Play appearance in program history at the 2021 NCAA Championships, with the Sun Devils finishing tied for fifth, the highest finish since the 2017 National Championship run. The consistency shown by Grant was a big reason why she racked up so many accolades, as she finished in the Top-10 in 12 of 16 career events. At the 2021 Clover Cup, Grant became only the second Sun Devil in program history to win four consecutive tournaments. She joined Brandie Burton from the legendary 1989-90 season, which resulted in Arizona State's first women's golf NCAA Championship. Grant put together a debut 2019-20 season that put her on the national collegiate map and belongs in the discussion of one of the top freshman campaigns in school history. She was recognized as a WGCA first-team All-American after finishing in the Top-10 at five of her seven tournaments. She took home individual medalist honors while leading her team to a victory at the Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational, the only Sun Devil to pick up an individual win in 2020.

Alexandra Forsterling, Germany - 2:17 AM MST/11:17 AM Local
Alexandra Forsterling was a consistent presence in the lineup her first three years (2018-21), performing admirably for a top-10 Arizona State team. During a breakout senior campaign (2021-22), she took her game to another level, becoming one of the best golfers in the nation. She did it while maintaining a 3.95 GPA and graduating with a degree in Film, and was a unanimous first-team All-American  and earned the 2022 Most Improved Player by Golfweek. The No. 5-ranked golfer in the nation (top-ranked senior) was the 2022 Pac-12 Scholar Athlete of the Year. Forsterling won the 2021 PING/ASU Invitational and made the ASU Dean's List in each of her eight semesters and was a Pac-12 Academic Spring Honor Roll selection all four seasons. 

Alessandra Fanali, Italy - 1:33 AM MST/10:33 AM Local
Alessandra Fanali played at ASU from 2018-22 and earned third-team All-America honors by Golfweek in 2019-20 and WGCA honorable mention the same season and had five top-20 finishes. She posted three top-10 finishes and two top-five finishes in 2020-21 and earned first-team All-Pac-12 honors. She played in all eight events in 2020-21.

SUN DEVIL WOMEN'S GOLF IN THE SPOTLIGHT
From Xavier Prep to Paris: ASU's Missy Farr-Kaye has 5 alums at 2024 Olympics (Arizona Republic)
ASU women's golf program showcases strength with five Olympians in Paris (Cronkite News)
ASU golf's Farr-Kaye: Linn Grant, former Sun Devil golfers will 'thrive' in Olympics (AZ Sports)
All four golfers representing Spain at the Olympics played at the same U.S. college (Golfweek)
ASU Athletes, Students, and Expert Sources on the Paris 2024 Olympics (ASU News)

HOW TO FOLLOW
For the latest updates and information on the Sun Devil Women's Golf program, follow our Twitter/Instagram accounts (@SunDevilWGolf), like our Facebook page (facebook.com/sundevilwgolf/), and visit our website (thesundevils.com). Find Coach Farr-Kaye (@missymkaye) and Coach Tatman (@CoachMikayla_) on Twitter as well.