‘Devastated’ Karrie Webb misses Rio cut as young guns Minjee Lee and Su Oh gain selection

WHILE Australia’s top men have turned their back on the Olympics, the one woman desperate to go, Karrie Webb, has been left devastated after missing the cut.

Karrie Webb has missed selection in Australia’s Olympic team.

SOMETIMES life just isn’t fair.

While the list of big-name male golfers withdrawing from the Olympics nears double figures, the ironic news is they will be joined by a player who has been dreaming of getting there for 16 years.

Australia’s former world No.1 Karrie Webb has missed out on her last chance of qualifying for the Olympic team, finishing tied for 46th in the US Women’s Open in California.

World No.13 Minjee Lee is set to be joined by Victorian Su Oh who was 39th in the world rankings before the Open and, though cut after two rounds, will stay ahead of Webb in the rankings.

Former beach volleyball star and five time Olympian Natalie Cook who, like Webb, grew up in North Queensland, had been following her close friend’s progress in the countdown to the Games and shared the disappointment at Webb missing an event she actively lobbied for.

“She will be devastated,’’ Cook said. “I first spoke to her about it at the Sydney Olympics 16 years ago.

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Karrie Webb has missed selection in Australia’s Olympic. Picture: Sarah Reed.

“She carried the torch in Sydney, went to a lot of events and was very excited about the Games in general. She said “I wish golf was in the Olympics.’’

“She was so excited when it did get in. She even spoke to me about getting tickets and even whether she should stay for the closing ceremony if she made the team. Maybe she could play in the men’s comp!

“For a long time I thought Karrie was a certainty and when I heard a couple of weeks ago there was another young golfer on the radar my heart just dropped out.

“The Olympics would have been the culmination of a great career. I wrote to her on Saturday wishing her the best.’’

Hall of fame member Webb, 41, has won 41 LPGA Tour titles, and seven women’s major tournaments and the irony of her absence extends to the fact that Lee and Oh were recipients of the Karrie Webb Scholarship.

Webb finished seven rankings points behind Su Oh.

Meanwhile, International Golf Federation president Peter Dawson has expressed his disappointment at the large number of men’s withdrawals as golf makes its Olympic return after a 112-year absence.

Jason Day, Adam Scott, Mark Leishman, Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell, Vijay Singh and South Africans Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel have all withdrawn because of fears over the mosquito-induced Zika virus or cramped schedules.

“I am disappointed frankly, but it is up to each individual to decide their own destiny,’’ Dawson said.

“They’re going to be missing out on potentially a very special time in their lives and I am sorry they are not going to participate. I was out on the course recently and did not see one mosquito.”