Grace Kim will be defending a major title won twice by Australians in the French Alps this week on the same course which has proved a golden spot for Aussies.
When it comes to good relationships between Australian players and majors, it’s hard to go past the Amundi Evian Championship.
Well, more precisely, the relationship with the Evian Resort Golf Club in Évian-les-Bains, located in the French Alps, where five Australians have won the second biggest women’s event played in Europe since it became an LPGA Tour event in 2000.
The world’s best return to France this week for the fourth major championship of 2026 with eight Australians in the field, including defending champion Grace Kim who stunned the golfing world with her playoff heroics this time last year.
Minjee Lee, Hannah Green, Karis Davidson, Cassie Porter, Kelsey Bennett and Robyn Choi round out the contingent.
Kim became the second Australian to win her first-major at the Evian, after Lee’s breakthrough triumph in 2021 which cemented her among the world's elite players. Lee has gone on to win two more majors since and was tied for third behind Kim last year in France.
Most major championships are steeped in history, the quest to hoist the winner’s trophy a long-held ambition for players who have seen so many of the game’s great players become champions.
The Evian, however, remains a relatively new major, only elevated to the ultimate status in 2013.
It was given major championship status on the back of its history of attracting the world’s best players, a fact which makes the three other Australian victories at the Evian Resort equally as impressive as the major wins.
Karrie Webb won the event in 2006, but it’s not counted among her seven major championship wins.
Wendy Doolan was victorious in 2004 and Rachel Hetherington in 2001, all against the world’s best players. Three wins in six years in France.
Australia could have had six winners, and three major champions at the event if not for a 17th hole bogey in the final round of 2024 by Steph Kyraicou, who began the last day with a one-shot lead.
Instead, Ayaka Furue made eagle at the final hole and Kyriacou lost by one.
Last year Gabbi Ruffels was tied for the lead going into the final round too, but could only manage a tie for ninth, one of three Australians in the top-10 in 2025 as Kim scored her victory.
Kyriacou has a wild record at the Evian, with two other top-20 finishes from just five appearances.
But such is the rollercoaster of golf, Kyriacou, who has missed the cut at nine of her past 10 events, won’t be playing in France this week.
She left her mark last year too, filmed dropping some excited profanities from the grass beside the 18th hole as Kim made a miraculous chip on the first playoff hole with Jeeno Thitikul.
That was before Kim nailed her second eagle in three trips up the 18th that day, including on the final hole of regulation to force the playoff. Lee was on the hill too, the bond between the Australian players on show for all to see as she rushed the new champion to spray her with champagne.
The golden recent memories for Australians in France haven’t gone unnoticed ahead of this year’s event where a mammoth $13m is up for grabs.
“There’s such a strong vibe around the Australians going there,” Karen Lunn, the WPGA Tour of Australasia CEO who played the event without much luck during her career, told Golf Australia magazine.
“Steph could have won there a couple of years ago, then Grace winning last year, and even Gabby (Ruffels) contended for a long time last year.
“The Aussies have done well there over the years, apart from myself. I have to say it was one of the places I could never conquer, hilly greens.
“But you know, in recent years, obviously Karrie won there, and Rachel Hetherington won there, and Wendy Doolan ... there's a few Aussies had success, plus the recent success.”
The presence of Webb looms large as a contributing factor to all that success according to Lunn.
After her victory last year, Kim said it was hard to miss the poster of the 2006 event winner in the clubhouse as she walked into the locker room.
Kim and Lee, as well as Hannah Green and Ruffels, have all benefited from the Karrie Webb scholarship to become the players they are.
“She takes them all under her wing, they've all got her on speed, she's so hands on,” Lunn said of Webb’s influence.
“She is a presence in all of their lives and careers, you know, and she says to all them, if you need anything, anytime, call me.
“You can't buy that, that kind of experience that she's got, and you know, the belief that she gives them as well.”
Belief will be real for the likes of Karis Davidson, Australia’s leading player at the past two majors, and Kelsey Bennett, making her major debut in France after a second-placed finish on the Ladies European Tour last weekend.
Lunn said results like that were more than just encouraging signs.
“I think they're just feeding off each other's success as well,” she said.
“They've all grown up playing amateur golf together, and they all know how good they are.
“So you know they see the girls on the LPGA doing so well, and they're like, well, yeah, I played with you, I can beat you, you know, that's where I'll be soon.”
Green, who has won four times this year but missed the cut at the PGA Championship enters the Evian as Australia’s highest ranked player at No.9. with Lee not far behind at 11, having also missed the PGA cut, as defending champion no less.
Kim has the added pressure of being defending champion in France on the back of a consistent season to date.
Davidson and Porter are arguably the hot hands in recent weeks, both breaking into the top 100 so far in 2026, Porter racking up back-to-back top 10s in June.
The rising tide lifts all boats, and with the next generation of Australian young guns elevating to join their major winning compatriots at a course which has proved favourable in the past, it all bodes well for a big week in the French Alps.
AUSTRALIAN PLAYERS IN THE FIELD
Grace Kim
World ranking: 31
Age: 25
Major wins: 1
LPGA Tour wins: 2
Previous Evian Championship starts: 3
Best finish at Evian Championship: Won (2025)
Hannah Green
World ranking: 9
Age: 29
Major wins: 1
LPGA Tour wins: 8
Previous Evian Championship starts: 6
Best finish at Evian Championship: T30 (2019)
Minjee Lee
World ranking: 11
Age: 30
Major wins: 3
LPGA Tour wins: 11
Previous Evian Championship starts: 11
Best finish at Evian Championship: Won (2021)
Karis Davidson
World ranking: 54
Age: 28
Major wins: 0
LPGA Tour wins: 0
Previous Evian Championship starts: 2
Best finish at Evian Championship: T61 (2023)
Cassie Porter
World ranking: 74
Age: 23
Major wins: 0
LPGA Tour wins: 0
Previous Evian Championship starts: 1
Best finish at Evian Championship: MC (2025)
Kelsey Bennett
World ranking: 112
Age: 26
Major wins: 0
LPGA Tour wins: 0
Previous Evian Championship starts: 0
Robyn Choi
World ranking: 110
Age: 28
Major wins: 0
LPGA Tour wins: 0
Previous Evian Championship starts: 1
Best finish at Evian Championship: MC (2025)
Gabriela Ruffels
World ranking: 172
Age: 26
Major wins: 0
LPGA Tour wins: 0
Previous Evian Championship starts: 2
Best finish at Evian Championship: T9 (2025)
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