Click here for the complete field at the 2017 Evian Championship.
Top Ranked
World No. 1 So Yeon Ryu headlines the field at the season’s final major, the Evian Championship. This week, Ryu will have a chance to capture her third win of the season, third career major title and, for the first time, take home the Rolex Annika Major Award. Ryu leads the season long points race with her win at the ANA Inspiration and solid showing in the season’s other major championships where she twice finished in the top-15. The Korean knows what it takes to play well in Evian where she finished tied for second last year behind In Gee Chun.
With her win last week in Indy, Lexi Thompson returns to the No. 2 spot in the Rolex Rankings. Thompson picked up her ninth career win last week at the inaugural event in Indy, where she carded rounds of 63 – 66 – 68 to capture her second win of the 2017 season. She’ll look to carry that momentum into the season’s final major where she has three top-10s in her career.
An opening round 63 at the 2016 Evian Championship launched Sung Hyun Park to the top of the leaderboard in France. She settled for a tie for second behind champion In Gee Chun, but learned from the experience to convert her first major title in July at the U.S. Women’s Open. The world No. 3 picked up her second win of the season in Canada and arrives in Evian leading not only the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year race but is also in the hunt for the Rolex Annika Major Award, Race to CME Globe, Player of the Year, Vare Trophy and money title.
The Evian Championship boasts one of the year’s strongest fields with 22 of the top-25 in the Rolex Rankings.
Ai Miyazato Says Farewell
This week, two-time Evian champion Ai Miyazato will play in her final event on the LPGA Tour. The former world No. 1 amassed 60 top-10s, her most recent coming at the Cambia Portland Classic where she played her final event in the United States and picked up another top-5. Miyazato, who never won a major in her career, won nine times on Tour including twice in Evian before the event became a major championship – leaving open the possibility that Miyazato could still get that last missing piece this week as she wraps up her career.
Suzann Pettersen Returns
Suzann Pettersen returns to action at the Evian Championship where she will make her first start since missing the cut at the Ricoh Women’s British Open. The 2013 Evian champion was forced to skip the Solheim Cup in August after aggravating an old back injury and instead served as an assistant captain. Pettersen has consistently played well in Evian where she became the first to win the event as a major and has four more top-10s in France.
You’re Invited
Five amateurs earned special invitations to the Evian Championship. France’s own Agathe Laisne, who plays for the University of Texas, is in the field. She’s joined by Stanford’s Abane Valenzuela, 2017 U.S. Women’s Open champion Solhia Schubert and Thailand’s Paphangkorn Tavatanakit. Also in the field is Thailand's Atthaya Thitikul, the youngest player to win on the Ladies European Tour who, at the age of 14 years, 4 months and 19 days, won her country's championship earlier this year. Natalie Gulbis, the 2007 winner of the Evian Masters, also received an invite to compete this week. She’s making her fifth start of the 2017 season and looking to make her first cut of the year.
Click here for the complete field at the 2017 Evian Championship.)
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