KUALA LUMPUR: Becoming an Olympian was always on Ashley Lau's bucket list when she embarked on her professional golfing career, but she never expected it would happen so soon.
The 24-year-old Sarawakian, who currently competes on the Epson Tour (the development circuit for the LPGA Tour), has secured a well-deserved Olympic debut in Paris.
This achievement cane less than 18 months after she turned professional in December 2022.
Ashley will be the sole Malaysian representative in the women's golf competition, scheduled for August 7-10 at Le Golf National in Paris.
With this Olympic appearance, Ashley will have completed her trifecta of major multi-sport Games representation for Malaysia, having previously competed in the Sea Games and Asian Games.
Her contributions to Malaysian golf include a team bronze at the 2017 Kuala Lumpur Sea Games and a silver at the 2019 Philippines edition. At the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia, Ashley achieved a commendable 13th place.
"I watched some of the Tokyo Olympics, and really enjoyed it. I was more in awe of it, and thought to myself, maybe that can be me one day," said Ashley
"(To become an Olympian) It's something I have always dreamed about but definitely not this soon.
"It means a lot. For athletes, the Olympics is the biggest stage, and to be able to perform on this stage, there's a lot of pressure but at the same time, it's such an honour to be competing at that level."
The 60-woman Olympic field boasts an impressive lineup, with 19 of the world's top 20 players competing, including world No. 1 Nelly Korda of the United States. Such calibre of competition makes a podium finish a daunting prospect for Ashley.
However, she views this as a unique opportunity to compete alongside and learn from the world's best. Ashley approaches the event with a blend of realism and optimism, knowing that peak performance at the right moment can lead to surprising outcomes.
"One good week can come to anyone. A lot of the golfers in the field have a lot more experience than me, so I'm going to go into the week as a competitor but at the same time learn from the world's best."
Ashley will be the third Malaysian women's golfer to compete at the Olympics, following Kelly Tan, who participated in the last two editions, and Michelle Koh, who competed in Rio 2016.
The best performance to date was by Kelly three years ago, who finished tied-34th with an impressive final round of 64.
Given the situation, a top-half finish would be a commendable achievement for Ashley, though she will undoubtedly aim to climb as high as possible on the leaderboard.
In the men's golf competition, Gavin Green will make his third consecutive Olympic appearance. Despite struggling recently on the DP World Tour, representing Malaysia at the Olympics could provide the perfect platform for Green to revitalise his form.
After finishing a disappointing tied-57th in Tokyo, 10 places lower than his result in Rio de Janeiro, Gavin recognises the need to prove himself on this global stage.