The Evian Championship like The Open is back after a 1-year hiatus. Cancelled in 2020 because of Covid the Ladies will be keen to get back familiar territory at the Evian Resort Golf Club in France for the 4th Major of the year. Not the last however, with the Ladies having 5 Majors The Open still to come in 3 weeks’ time. The best in the world will take to the field but it will be missing a few stars. US Open Winner Yuki Saso, Danielle Kang & Lexi Thomson all I believe electing for Olympic prep, but I may be wrong. The usual extra CME Globe points on offer this week with 625 instead of 500 & a nice $4.5Million Purse. Jin Young Ko is the defending Champion this week
Course
The Evian Resort Golf Club always hosts this event. The course is in Evian-Les-Bains, Southern France which overlooks Lake Geneva. It has been called the 5th Major since 2013. However, it has hosted the Evian Masters since 1994 when it was a Ladies European Tour Event before becoming a co-sanctioned LPGA & LET event in 2000. 6527 yards will make up the par 71 course this week. 5 par 3s,9 par 4s & 4 par 5 complete the scorecard. Steve Smyers helped redesign the course with European Golf Design in 2012-13 costing whopping $8million. The Redesign hasn’t been to everyone’s liking with high profile players such as Lexi Thomson & Stacy Lewis voicing concerns about it at the time. Stacy didn’t play for 2 years during a boycott because of new design. The best total score for the week was by In Gee Chun in 2016 shooting -21.
Previous winners
2019 – Jin Young Ko – Score -15
2018 – Angela Stanford – Score -12
2017 – Anna Nordqvist – Score -9
2016 – In Gee Chun – Score -21
2015 – Lydia Ko – Score -16
@Golftipster5 Selections:
Inbee Park 16-1 PaddyPower 6 Places
Inbee needs no introduction she is one of the most successful Players to grace the LPGA. She has won 21 times on tour including 7 Majors, the only Major missing from her collection is the Evian Championship. This week she can become the 1st Woman to win the Grand Slam of Golf in the Evian Championship Era. 5 women have won the 4 slam before & Karrie Webb has done the 5 Slam but nobody since the Evian has existed has completed the modern 5 slam. She has finished 8th in this event 3 times in 2015,2018 & 2019. The year before this event became a Major in 2012, she won here so she knows to play 4 consistent rounds round here to get the job done. The world No3 has been in great form this season, she has had 21 rounds in the 60s this season & has 1 win at the Kia Classic in March. She is one of the best putters on tour ranking 3rd in average putts for the season, this with an 81.18% driving accuracy & a 73.22% greens in regulation will make her tough to beat this week. Current form reads 22-40-10-29-7
Mattila Castren 33-1 Unibet 6 Places
Matilda won on the Ladies European Tour last week at a very short price of 5/2. The event was in her home country of Finland & gave her a huge confidence boost the week before a major winning by 3 shots & only having 3 dropped shots all week. This win will almost guarantee her a spot on the Team Europe for the Solheim cup in a few months’ time. Her 2nd win of the year comes just 5 starts after her last win so she is in great form currently. The green in regulation machine is one of the best one tour ranking 6th with 77.01% so she should give herself plenty of chance this week. Current form reads 1-15-2-MC-1
Jessica Korda 35-1 PaddyPower 6 Places
Jessica can follow in her Sister’s footsteps this week & land her maiden Major just before jetting off to the Olympics. The last 2 starts at the Evian Championship Jess has finished 17th & 8th so she has plenty of course form to use to her advantage this week. Jess has the 3rd best scoring average this season on tour with 69.67 which is helped with a green in regulation percentage of 76.74. The world No13 will be looking to add to her victory at the start of the year to cement her place in the Solheim cup team. Current form reads 50-15-25-30-3
Atthaya Thitikul 40-1 Skybet 6 Places
Atthaya is still & probably always will be the youngest winner of a Women’s professional event when she won the Thailand Championship in 2017 ages just 14 years & 4 months. She had another win in 2019 in the same championship still as an amateur. She turned pro in 2020 & won a recent as a 4 starts ago at the Czech Ladies Open. She has had 7 starts this season & finished 6th or better 6 times which puts her 1st in the Race to Costa Del Sol. Atthaya has hit 74.55% of greens in regulation as well as 60.38% diving accuracy which has helped her to a score average of 69.81. In 2017 she made her only appearance at the Evian Championship as an amateur & she was ranked T19 for birdies made that week. Current form reads 4-2-4-1-65
Esther Henseleit 70-1 PaddyPower 6 Places
Esther has had a fantastic Rookie year on tour & sits 4th in the Rookie of the year standings. The 22-year-old is yet to taste victory on the LPGA tour but her recent finishes show she is very close to winning. In her last 5 starts she’s has finished 4-4-15-57-26. She knows how to get it done with a win on the Ladies European Tour in 2019. The same year she won not only Rookie of the year but also the LET order of Merit which hasn’t been done since Dame Laura Davis did it in 1985. Esther is another player who has a solid scoring average with 70.15 ranking 14th. She is also one of the most accurate players on tour with 74.6% Fairways hit & 73.25% greens in regulation.
Outsider
Chella Choi 175-1
Chella Choi stats wise is one of the best players on the tour. She is 2nd in driving accuracy with 85.6%, Greens in Regulation of 74.76% & Putts per green in regulation she ranks 17th. She isn’t the longest of hitter only averaging 245.54 yards but that should be an issue for such an accurate iron player especially when the Evian Course isn’t long by modern standards with 5 of the par 4s playing below 400 yards. She has made the cut 6 out of 7 times at this event with her finishes reading 6-MC-25-39-48-16-22. Her current form reads 22-33-29-7-28
Good Luck with all Bets
@golftipster5