Australasians chasing further success at Amundi Evian Championship
Last year’s surprise and dramatic winner, Grace Kim of Sydney- image Ladies European Tour
The fourth of women’s golf’s five majors in 2026, the Amundi Evian Championship, begins this Thursday in Evian les Bains on Lake Geneva on the border between Switzerland and France, but in France, where prizemoney exceeding US$9 million is on offer.
The event is the first of a three-tournament swing in Europe and Great Britain, this week’s event followed by the ISPS Handa Scottish Open in two weeks and the AIG Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes the following week.
The last of the majors to be included amongst the elite events on the women’s golf calendar, The Amundi Evian Championship established itself based on its standing as one of the most lucrative events on the LPGA Tour prior to becoming a major in 2013.
The quirky nature of the layout has seen some surprising results over the years, perhaps none more so than the dramatic finish by 2025 champion Grace Kim of Sydney and this week a total of nine Australians and New Zealanders get their chance to add to the list of golfers from our region to have won this event.
Hannah Green, Minjee Lee, Lydia Ko, Grace Kim, Karis Davidson, Gabi Ruffels, Kelsey Bennett, Cassie Porter, and Roby Choi are those players.
Six Australasians, Minjee Lee, Lydia Ko, Karrie Webb, Grace Kim, Wendy Doolan and Rachel Teske have won the event, but only three (Lee, Ko and Kim) since it gained major status in 2013.
The joint sanctioning with the Ladies European Tour allows for the in-form NSW golfer, Kelsey Bennett, to gain a start given her standing on the Ladies European Tour Order of Merit this season but it is perhaps a sad reflection on how heavily weighted the event is in favour of the LPGA Tour that Perth’s Kirsten Rudgeley, currently 14th on the LET Order of Merit, does not get a start.
Grace Kim, produced a dramatic finish to win the event last year, playing the 18th hole on three occasions, producing an eagle on the 72nd hole, a hole out for birdie at the first extra hole after finding the hazard alongside the green and then an eagle at the second extra hole to win US$1.2 million, her second LPGA Tour win and her first major.
Both Ko and Lee also won their first majors in this event.
Karis Davidson has been the standout amongst the Australasians in the majors to date in 2026, although in two starts in this event she has missed the cut and been 61st in the other, so she will need a continuation of her significant progress in 2026 if she is to be a factor this week.
Of the leading Australasians, none have been standouts in recent weeks, Hannah Green unable to recapture her early season form, Minjee Lee sadly out of form and although Lydia Ko has shown glimpses of her best, she has mixed that with some rather ordinary play.
As the dominant player in 2026, Nelly Korda will start the event as favourite, although she has not enjoyed much success in this event, and I personally like the chances of previous winner and runner-up Brook Henderson, who seems to be finding form again and Jeeno Thitikul, who finished runner-up to Kim last year and is, after all, the world number two.
