THE AMUNDI EVIAN CHAMPIONSHIP – WINNER

JIMMY EMANUEL – Golf Australia Deputy & Digital Editor

I hate to do it, but I simply can't disagree with Mark Hayes' assessment of what is going to play out this week.

MINJEE LEE was so impressive on Sunday here last year on her way to victory and has only improved her play since, winning another major, another LPGA Tour title and going close again in her last start.

Lee will walk around this week at the same course she won last year knowing that she is among the best players on the planet right now with a game perfectly matched to the course. Let's keep this Aussie major winning thing going!

Sportsbet odds: $10

RELATED: Evian Championship preview

Rod Morri – Golf Australia magazine contributor and The Thing About Golf podcast host

Somehow, ATTHAYA THITIKUL still flies under the radar despite being the fifth ranked player in the world.

Finished fifth here last year and continued to impress in 2022 including a fourth place finish last start at the Women’s PGA. Still just 19, the Thai star looks destined for greatness and that journey will begin here this week.

Sportsbet odds: $15

Mark Hayes – Man About Golf

Welcome back to the course that should give hope to your own local course hope that it, too, can one day host a major championship. I need to clarify that Evian always seems to find a good champion, which is naturally one of the essential hosting criteria. But that – and the sensational views of everything viewable around Lake Geneva – aside, this track is fit for goats and those who believe everything in life has a price. Which reminds me ... what do you call a goat who works in a donut shop? Yep, a battering ram!

Now we've got my contractual rant and piece of bad humour out of the way, this will be the coronation of Queen MINJEE. The Royal Fremantle wiz removed the last remaining impediments to greatness when she literally and figuratively climbed the hill at this venue last year with her eye-watering comeback.

She has since been comfortably the best major championship player and when she repeats this weekend, she will surely ascend to the top of the world rankings, becoming the first Aussie to do so. She has four top-5 finishes in the past five majors, including two wins and boasts a scoring average of a phenomenal 69 in that span. She just wins. How good to say that from an Aussie perspective?!?

Sportsbet odds: $10

THE AMUNDI EVIAN CHAMPIONSHIP – TOP AUSSIE

JIMMY EMANUEL – Golf Australia Deputy & Digital Editor

Once again, it is a same as above situation. But do keep an eye on Hannah Green in this catgeory. The trip home to Perth will have refreshed the major champ who has a game tailor made to this place.

Sportsbet odds: $10

Rod Morri – Golf Australia magazine contributor and The Thing About Golf podcast host

Minjee Lee is the obvious and standout choice here as she is to win the tournament outright.

Try as I might, I just can’t come up with a reason why she won’t once again fly the Australian flag highest this week, So I’ll stop trying and just say it: Minjee Lee will finish top Australian.

Sportsbet odds: $10

Mark Hayes – Man About Golf

See above (my favourite tipping words)

Sportsbet odds: $10

THE AMUNDI EVIAN CHAMPIONSHIP– OUTSIDER

JIMMY EMANUEL – Golf Australia Deputy & Digital Editor

You guessed it, the Australian theme continues for me in this spot, with STEPH KYRIACOU my pick to make some noise from outside the big names.

The Sydneysider is growing in confidence on the LPGA Tour, had two very good rounds here last year and is the sort of player that if she finds herself in the mix won't back down over the weekend.

Sportsbet odds: $251

Rod Morri – Golf Australia magazine contributor and The Thing About Golf podcast host

Mao Saigo. No, you won’t have heard of her (and to be fair, neither had I until her name was mentioned by a caddie I know) but she is a star on the rise in Japan and I am assured she is the real deal.

A quick Google search reveals she has won three times on the Japan Women’s Tour already in 2022 so she knows how to find the finish line and it will be interesting to see how she plays this week.

Sportsbet odds: $71

Mark Hayes – Man About Golf

GEORGIA HALL seemed to be calm in the Tiger-Rory spotlight last week and it might be a bit rough to sneak her into the "roughie" category, but I can see her doing well enough to run a gallant second to Minjee.

Sportsbet odds: $41

PGA TOUR – 3M OPEN

JIMMY EMANUEL – Golf Australia Deputy & Digital Editor

It feels like we are in for something special on the Australian golf front in the wake of Cam's Claret Jug grabbing efforts.

And look for the other Aussie Cam (CAM DAVIS) to be a part of it this week when he grabs a second PGA Tour win and stops mising majors where he belongs and will one day contend himself.

Sportsbet odds: $23

RELATED: 3M Open preview

Rod Morri – Golf Australia magazine contributor and The Thing About Golf podcast host

Back-to-back top-10 finishes in his last two starts says something is brewing with CAM DAVIS and it may well come to the fore this week in Minnesota.

The 2017 Australian Open champion tees up for the fourth time in this tournament so there must be something about it he likes, despite a best result so far of T12. He’ll improve on that this week and a second Tour title beckons.

Sportsbet odds: $23

Mark Hayes – Man About Golf

It's hard to conceive that JASON DAY has been relegated to the players who sat stewing on the west side of the Atlantic while the big boys slugged it out at St. Andrews. That this is his lot must sting JD, who has played quality rounds many times this season, only to back them up the next day with a Barry Crocker.

He has in danger of falling outside the world's top-150, but is still a substantially better player than that. In racing parlance, he's weighted to win this ... his main theoretical rivals should be weary after a big week away and he should be better than those who haven't left the US of A.

Sportsbet odds: $41

DP WORLD TOUR – CAZOO CLASSIC

JIMMY EMANUEL – Golf Australia Deputy & Digital Editor

Trying to emulate my tipping idol, and constant bully, Mark Hayes, I am sticking to a theme this week and that is Aussies. I know, it is kind of a lazy one but that's where we are.

DIMI PAPADATOS will have taken so much out of playing the 150th Open last week at St. Andrews, and I imagine is more than a little inspired after taking part in his mate's victory celebrations.

Hillside will suit Dimi, who plays out of the slightly manufactured dunescapes of Magenta Shores and if the wind gets up could make a big step in his mission to move up the world rankings and be a big Tour contender.

Sportsbet odds: $301

RELATED: Cazoo Classic preview

Rod Morri – Golf Australia magazine contributor and The Thing About Golf podcast host

It’s reasonably thin pickings this week, which is a real shame considering the venue, Hillside, which is a terrific links right next door to Royal Birkdale. Some pros genuinely appreciate the opportunity to play good courses and Scotland’s BOB MACINTYRE is one of them.

Despite a recent schedule that suggests he should be taking a break the lure of Hillside (where he finished second in a tournament two years ago) was too much and the Golf Gods should surely reward him Sunday  for doing the right thing?

Sportsbet odds: $13

Mark Hayes – Man About Golf

SAMI VALIMAKI, like Jimmy Emanuel in high school English classes, once seemed destined for great things, only to hit a few hurdles en route to his current predicament. And just as Jimmy is slowly rediscovering his ability to conjugate, Sami is closing in on his 2019/20 form.

The Flying Finn (there's no other nickname legally printable for a Finnish athlete) has had three solid weeks in a row, all against markedly stronger fields than this event.

Sportsbet odds: $34

2022 RESULTS

So far, our so-called experts have combined to tip 20 winners in 2022, with 126 of their picks recording top-10 finishes that week and a best return of $25 for Matt Fitzpatrick to win the U.S. Open (tipped by Jimmy Emanuel and Rod Morri).