SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France – Wherever you look towards the top of the leaderboard in the Olympic women’s golf competition, there are stories aplenty.

From one of the sport’s biggest stars’ pursuit of completing the set of Olympic medals, to an LPGA veteran chasing the perfect retirement gift, to America’s global superstar aiming for history with a gold-medal repeat.

Here are five things to know to set the scene ahead of what promises to be an enthralling final day from Le Golf National at Paris 2024:

Ko looks to complete medal trifecta, Korda needs big finish to retain gold

With 20 career LPGA Tour victories, two of which have come in majors, Lydia Ko boasts a resume envied by many in women’s golf. On Sunday, the New Zealander can kill two birds with one stone and add further to her storied career. Victory would mean she would add a gold medal to complete her full set of Olympic medals, while it would also earn her automatic entry into the LPGA Hall of Fame. After rounds of 72 and 67, Ko showed her caliber again, piecing together a 4-under 68 that has her well-placed to leave Paris with both of those missions accomplished.

Tokyo 2020 gold medalist Nelly Korda will need a big performance on Saturday if she is to add to her own medal haul. At 4-under, the 26-year-old is five shots adrift of co-leaders Ko and Switzerland’s Morgane Metraux with 18 holes to play. But Korda doesn’t need to look too far back for inspiration as she works to mount a final-round comeback, with compatriot and fellow world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler having overturned a four-shot deficit in the final round to win gold in the men’s competition last week.

Uribe targets medal in farewell appearance

On Saturday, one thing is for certain: Mariajo Uribe will retire from professional golf. Yet, in her final competitive round, she could realize a lifelong dream. Across a 15-year LPGA Tour tenure, the Colombian has recorded 14 top 10s, two of which came at two of the women’s five major championships. But an Olympic medal would be the perfect parting gift for the 34-year-old.

Uribe was set to call time on her career after the 2020 Games in Tokyo; however, the COVID-19 pandemic led to it being postponed by a year, and shortly before the rescheduled Olympics, she had a baby boy. So, she decided to change plans and compete in Paris for her swansong tournament. But Uribe still had to qualify for the Games, and it wasn’t until she won her maiden Ladies European Tour title in March at the Women’s NSW Open in Australia that her ambition had the potential to become a reality. Up until then, she’d only won once professionally, at the 2011 HSBC Brazil Cup, an unofficial LPGA Tour event.

Now, with her husband, a host of family and several friends in attendance this week, could she be about to write the perfect closing chapter to her career?

New countries in medal mix

Since golf’s return to the Olympics in 2016, New Zealand is the only country to have won two medals in the women’s golf competition. Ko could make it a third on Saturday, but there are plenty of countries in the mix to win their first. Metraux, a two-time winner on the Ladies European Tour, has proven to be a surprise at this year’s competition, and the 27-year-old Olympic debutante is aiming to land Switzerland’s first medal in the sport across both the men’s and women’s competitions. Also bidding to bring home success for her country is Colombia’s Mariajo Uribe in what is the final appearance of her career. The 34-year-old was in a four-way tie for the lead at one stage during the back nine in Friday’s third round but will begin the final day four shots adrift of the leaders. A shot better off is Atthaya Thitikul, who would become Thailand’s first Olympic medalist, after her third-round 3-under 69 earned her a place in the penultimate three-ball on Saturday.

Le Golf National continues to test the best

With just one day to go, only six holes are playing under par this week at Le Golf National. Intriguingly, the 386-yard par-4 first hole is proving to be the hardest hole of the week (+0.370). The pin position on the left portion of the green that is surrounded by water on its left proved to be a menace for several in the field on Saturday, with Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 1 Nelly Korda among those to find the drink with their approach on Saturday. While the 18th proved the hardest hole for the men last week, the hole being a par 5 has seen it play easier for the women.

Over the course of the opening three days, there have only been three bogey-free rounds. The first of those was registered by China’s Ruoning Yin on Thursday, while Canada’s Brooke Henderson and Japan’s Miyu Yamashita matched that feat on Friday with a 67 and a 68, respectively.

Drama of a playoff awaits

With the top 10 players separated by five shots ahead of the final 18 holes, there is a possibility that extra holes could be required to determine the medalists. A playoff appeared to be in the cards as the climax to the final round of the men’s competition reached a crescendo, but late movement on the leaderboard resulted in all three medal winners being determined in regulation play.

Should there be any ties within the top three, a sudden-death playoff will unfold. If there are simultaneous playoffs, the two-person playoff for gold and silver would be on Nos. 18-16-17 (repeat until concluded), with the playoff for bronze taking place on Nos. 17-18-16 (repeat until concluded). At Rio 2016, the medal winners were determined at the end of the 72-hole regulation play, while Mone Inami of Japan beat New Zealand’s Lydia Ko in a playoff for the silver medal at the Tokyo Summer Olympics in 2021. For a full summary of how a playoff would unfold, click here.