EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France | Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 3 Lydia Ko won The Amundi Evian Championship in 2015, defeating Lexi Thompson by a whopping six shots at Evian Resort Golf Club, and she’s back at it again in the 2023 edition of the major championship. Ko opened her week in Evian-les-Bains with a 5-under 66, a bogey-free round that saw her hit six of 13 fairways and 11 of 18 greens and need just 24 total putts. Starting on No. 10, the 19-time LPGA Tour winner made seven consecutive pars to kick off the day, finally breaking through with a momentum-shifting birdie on the par-4 17th hole.
Turning in 35, the major champion made four more birdies on the front nine, three of which came in her last five holes on Nos. 5, 7 and 9, to post at 5-under and sit two back of the lead held by Paula Reto at 7-under. It’s the seventh time that Ko has opened the Amundi Evian Championship with a round in the 60s, most recently in 2022 when she also carded a 66 in the first round.
Riding the par train early wasn’t something that Ko saw as a negative. In fact, the LPGA Tour veteran considered those holes to be some of the most critical to her low score on Thursday.
“I holed a lot of good par putts, and even on my 17th hole, today on the eighth, I had like a 10ish-footer for par and I was able to hole that, and hole a couple other ones that were similar to that,” said Ko, who ranks fifth in putting average (28.78) and 14th in putts per green in regulation (1.76) on Tour this season. “Sometimes the birdies are obviously important because it takes strokes off your total, but sometimes the par saves are just as important because it keeps the momentum going.
“For me, I didn't have the greatest start with my long game, so making those par saves, I wasn't losing shots even though I wasn't putting myself in good positions. I was really patient out there and I think that is such a big key at any event, but especially at major championships. It's 72 holes of golf and it requires a lot of patience.”
Ko has had patience in spades this season as 2023 hasn’t been what she might’ve hoped for after a banner year in 2022. Opening with a tie for sixth at the Honda LPGA Thailand in her first start of the year, the New Zealand native hasn’t found the top 30 since, recording a best finish of T31 at the HSBC Women’s World Championship in her last nine starts. But Ko is gritty and she loves Evian Resort Golf Club, as evidenced by her past performances at this venue, where she has seven top-10 finishes. The scenic course nestled at the base of the Alps seems like the perfect place for Ko to flip her season on its head and get the train back on the tracks.
“I've played this golf course with some of the best ball striking, some of my worst ball striking, and I think because of that, I feel like I've played it in a lot of different spots here,” said Ko. “I think the longer you play at a golf course you realize you make so many different memories, whether it's good or bad, and I try and draw on the good memories. It's just a fun little golf course. The golf course itself has changed with some hole changing, like par 5s to par 4s, and par 4s to par 5s, so it's not the same, but I just try and draw back on them.”
Another experience Ko has been drawing back on this week is her first Amundi Evian Championship in 2013. Norway’s Suzann Pettersen won that year, beating Ko by just two strokes, and the 2023 European Solheim Cup captain is on-site this week in Evian-les-Bains, bringing up even more memories from 11 years ago for the now 25-year-old.
“I think I only played this once as an amateur, and I was in the final group with her,” Ko said. “I remember I hit a chip on the last and I was like two shots behind, but she made a great two-putt and par and won I think by two shots. That was the first time I put myself in contention really at a major championship, or at any other LPGA event, so it was just really fun and for me.
“Suzann was one of the players that I had seen on TV and now she's a European team Solheim Cup captain. A lot of things have happened in those 11 years, but I remember when I saw her win and her getting that champagne shower on the last thinking, I would love to be in her shoes one day. I feel lucky to call myself a past champion alongside her.”
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