If one of Australia’s four golfers creates history in Paris in the next fortnight by winning an Olympic medal, golf fans will witness a side to Karrie Webb that they may have never seen before.

A seven-time major champion and World Golf Hall of Famer, Webb is at Le Golf National for the men’s and women’s golf competitions in a supporting role.

As Team Captain, she has been tasked with creating the environment that will enable Jason Day, Min Woo Lee, Hannah Green and Minjee Lee to each play to their absolute potential while also forging a deep connection to the Olympic Games.

It is a connection that Karrie first made as a five-year-old watching the Moscow Games from her childhood home in Townsville.

Four years later, that Olympic passion grew further when her cousin, Patricia Cockrem, was a member of the Opals basketball team that competed at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

In 2000, having won three majors inside 12 months to become the undisputed number one in women’s golf, Webb was given the honour of lighting the Olympic community cauldron at Sydney’s Town Hall.

The flame was passed to her by none other than four-time Olympic gold medal winner, Dawn Fraser.

“Even as a young person, I understood the magnitude of that,” said Webb, who was just 25 at the time.

“On our bus getting shuttled to the drop-offs for the relay were all past Olympians and here I am getting this last leg.

“Dawn’s from Sydney; it really should have been her.”

When golf’s submission for readmission to the Olympic Games was denied for London 2012, the newly-renamed International Golf Federation acknowledged that they needed the backing of the leading players of the day.

Webb and current IGF President and fellow Hall of Famer, Annika Sorenstam, were recruited to represent the women’s game and, in August 2009, the International Olympic Committee voted in favour of golf’s inclusion for the 2016 Games in Rio.

Arguably Australia’s greatest ever golfer, Webb was destined to fulfill her Olympic dream; until, at the very last minute, she wasn’t.

In an extraordinary chain of events, young Victoria Su Oh – a Karrie Webb Scholarship recipient in 2013 and 2014 – rose 164 places in the world rankings between February 7 and June 12 to move past Webb a month out from selection and join Minjee Lee as Australia’s representatives at the Rio Games.

“It was tough,” Webb conceded on the eve of the men’s competition teeing off on.

“I didn’t watch the women play at Rio. I couldn’t do it. I wanted to be there so badly.

“I had planned to be there, but it wasn’t meant to be for whatever reason.

“And I’d been pushing for so long to grow the next generation of female golfers so, in a way, I’d gotten what I’d asked for with two great young players coming through.”

Which brings us to the Paris 2024 competition at Le Golf National.

It is where, 30 years ago, Webb played her final event before turning professional and where she now stands dreaming of Olympic glory.

There will be no medal hung around her neck, yet should Australia crown its first Olympic golf medallist, the captain will be the one leading the celebrations.

“I’ll probably celebrate it more than any of the four players. It’s become apparent to me that that’ll happen,” said Webb, who was one of the first onto the green when Hannah Green won the 2019 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

“It was great that Min and the two caddies, Stu (Davidson) and Luke (Reardon), were able to attend the Opening Ceremony and Jason is really embracing the team aspect of it.

“He is sharing a lot of his experience with all of us and been very open, and I think that’s what being in a team is. Everyone is learning off one another and supporting one another.

“It would be super special to be a part of that team because the first medal winner is always going to be that.”

Tony Webeck is on site at Le Golf National as media liaison for the Australian team.