Morgane Metraux of Switzerland won the Olympic golf championship

SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France — Switzerland’s Morgane Metraux left her sister’s spot at the last Olympics to focus on her touring status. He had a solo performance on Thursday at Le Golf National which made him worth the wait.

Metraux had 3-eight on his front nine — 8-under — until he was slowed by wind and a bad shot at the wrong time. She had a 6-under 66, which puts her one shot ahead of China’s Ruoning Yin in the middle of the women’s golf tournament.

One week after the men’s competition had a medal chase, the women lined up for some special opportunities.

Lydia Ko, the only golfer to medal in the last two Olympics, had a 67 and was just three shots back. Ko, who reached world No. 1 at the age of 17, won silver in Rio de Janeiro and bronze in Tokyo. The gold would induct him into the LPGA Hall of Fame.

Colombia’s Mariajo Uribe is retiring from golf and wanted the Olympics to be her last competition. He had 70 others and he had two left. Celine Boutier had the French crowd singing and singing again, but she had three straight 6s on her back nine for a 76 and had a back four.

Nelly Korda, the world No. 1 and defending Olympic champion, could have been there. He was 6 under on the day until he had a bad swing, one bad lie and three putts for a quadruple bogey on the par-3 16th. He shot a 70 and was six behind.

“If I had done this on the last day — or let’s say the third day — I would have been very upset,” Korda said. “But I have 36 more holes and anything can happen.”

The big surprise was Metraux, who was still on the Epson Tour of development when the Tokyo Games came around. She decided to continue playing the tour to earn her LPGA card and was happy that her older sister, Kim, was her replacement.

“If anyone could take my place, I was hoping it would be him and it would be successful,” said Morgane Metraux. “He had a different experience because of the whole COVID thing. … But he had stars in his eyes when he came back.”

Metraux was simply brilliant with the front nine featuring eagles on the par 5s, three straight birdies on the middle of the front nine and a par save on the tough par-4 seventh.

Yin was warming up when he saw that Metraux was already at 6 under through six holes.

“I was talking to my coach, ‘How can someone shoot so low on this course?’ But I think it’s just his day,” said Yin.

That it was so, until the end. Metraux moved from the fairway into the water in front of the 15th green, salvaging bogey after a penalty drop by cutting his tee to create enough spin for the ball to tip closer to the hole.

On the 5 18th, he had 177 yards to the pin and hit his worst shot of the day. It came up short, bouncing off the wooden frame around the green and into the water. He made bogey to finish 36 holes at 8-under 136.

“I only got a bogey. I wish I didn’t, but it’s okay. I’m still in good shape the last two days,” said Metraux.

It can be an uncontrollable rush. Yin had won the PGA Women’s Championship and briefly reached world No. 1 late last year, and looked as good as ever to start with three straight birdies and maintain a clean sheet on a tough, windy day.

Ko was no-nonsense as he entered the fray. He also got a little under par on the 18th without losing the golf ball. He went from rough to rough, on the green he went from bad to worse and couldn’t save on par.

But he only had three left and was trying not to look ahead.

“It’s really good that if I win the gold, I can go into the Hall of Fame, and it will stop all these questions,” he said. “But I’m playing 59 other top players here, and there’s 36 holes left.”