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 14^th 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 18^th hole on three occasions, producing an eagle on the 72^nd 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  61^st 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.

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Padraig Harrington – holds his third US Senior Open trophy – image USGA Jeff Haynes 

54-year-old Padraig Harrington won three majors in regular tour golf (two Opens and a PGA Championship) and today he added a fourth major in senior golf when he played his way to a comfortable four-shot win over Stewart Cink at the US Senior Open in Columbus, Ohio.

It was Harrington’s third US Senior Open title, having also won in his rookie season in 2022 and again in 2025, joining Miller Barber as the only player to win three US Senior Opens. It also became Harrington’s 12th PGA Tour Champions victory.

“It’s different, I’ve got to say,” said Harrington, whose first two Senior Open victories came in nailbiters. “It feels great, but obviously there wasn’t the drama that I know we normally provide down the stretch. That doesn’t mean that I wasn’t feeling it. I was really trying to stay in it, stay focused. I knew I had a nice lead, which let me play to the middle of the greens, and let me hit the shots.

“But I did hit some big shots coming on the way home to take all the stress out of it. I had a great week putting, which, wow, golf is easier when you putt well.”

The day began with Stewart Cink, the winner of the opening two senior majors to date this season, one ahead of Harrington, but the potential shootout between the two dominant players on the PGA Tour Champions this season never really developed. By the 4^th tee, Harrington had moved three clear after birdies at his opening two holes and two early bogeys by Cink.

By the turn, Harrington was four clear, and he would eventually go on to win by four over Cink, with PGA Tour Champions rookie George McNeil another two shots back in 3^rd place.

In what was ultimately a disappointing week for the large Australasian contingent, Brend Jones and Michael Wright emerged as the best placed of the 12 who started the week when the pair tied for 20^th place.

Jones is playing with limited status on the PGA Tour Champions and, in his second season, gets very few opportunities, but after a slow start to the week, he put together rounds of 69, 69, and 70 to record his best finish of the year and earns a cheque for US$37,000.

Wright’s third round of 67 had him close to the top ten, but a round of 72 today saw him share 20^th place with Jones.

 Results

Brendan Jones, along with Michael Wright, led the Australians – image USGA

Kelsey Bennett – during today’s second round – image Ladies European Tour 

New South Wales golfer, Kelsey Bennett, already in third place on the Ladies European Tour Order of Merit in 2026, finds herself in outright second place and two shots from the leader after the second round of the Helencourt Women’s Open in Belgium.

Bennett, in her third season on the LET,  won earlier in the season in one of the Ladies European Tour events in Australia when she was successful at the Australian Women’s Classic in New South Wales and also recorded a runner-up finish in Morocco this season, but a second round of 67 has her two behind Spain’s Carolina Chacarra.

If the name Chacarra sounds familiar, it is perhaps because her brother Eugenio has won twice on the men’s European Tour (DP World Tour this season).

“It was really solid,” Bennett said after her round. “I rolled in some nice putts and am really looking forward to this weekend. There’s still lots of golf to play out there. It was really tough out there yesterday. I was level-par through nine, then managed to squeeze a few in at the end. I definitely have a lot more confidence now I’ve won on tour.”

Bennett led this event after the opening round twelve months ago, so this is a venue that clearly fits the 26-year old’s eye.

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Kazuma Kobori – file image courtesy of Australian Golf Media 

Final qualifying for the 2026 Open Championship was completed across England overnight, where nearly 80 golfers at each of the four venues were competing over 36 holes for five spots at Royal Birkdale on July 16^th.

Many Australasians were in the respective fields, but only New Zealander, Kazuma Kobori, was successful when finishing runner-up at his venue at West Lancs Golf Club near Liverpool.

Kobori followed up an opening round of 70 with a stunning afternoon effort of 65 to finish one shot behind the leading qualifier Sam Bairstow at his venue.

Kobori will play the Open Championship for the second occasion, having missed the cut at Royal Troon in 2024.

At other venues, players such as Marc Leishman and Cameron Davis missed out, the closest of those not making it was Austin Bautista, who finished 2 shots from qualifying at Royal Cinque Ports.

There remains one last chance for qualifying on the Monday of Open Championship week, where up to 12 players will play off for one spot, but it appears no Australasian will be eligible for that field.

Kobori, however, will join Jason Day, Ryan Fox, Lucas Herbert, Daniel Hillier, Cameron John, Min Woo Lee, Adam Scott, Cam Smith, Elvis Smylie and Travis Smyth, who were already qualified for the final major of the year.

SCORES

Karis Davidson – another fine week on the LPGA Tour – image Darren Carroll PGA of America

Karis Davidson has finished in a share of 12^th place at the KPMG PGA Championship in Chaska, Minnesota, her final round of 1 over 73, not quite what she was after, but for the 27-year-old Queenslander, the finish represented her best finish in a major championship.

Davidson was on track for a top ten or even better finish when she reached the 14^th hole, but a wild drive there would eventually lead to a double bogey, costing her a significant amount of money given the huge purse on offer. She bounced back, however, with a birdie at the 15^th and then parred in for her impressive result.

Davidson will still, however, secure a cheque for US$210,000, by some margin (US$60,000), her biggest of her career, and this finish, along with a very solid 22^nd place at the US Women’s Open a month ago, highlights the progress she has made in 2026, having made all eleven cuts this season.

The winner was Korean Haeran Ryu, who won her first major but her fourth LPGA Tour victory with a two-shot win over fellow Korean Ina Yoon, with Canadian Brooke Henderson and Dewi Webber of the Netherlands sharing 3rd place.

Davidson led the Australasians in the field, but Lydia Ko stormed home after just making the cut on Friday to finish in a share of 15^th after beginning the week with a round of 76 on Thursday.

Sydney’s Grace Kim was 24^th and Queenslander, Robyn Choi, 48^th.

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