EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France — Three Australians are in the top five on the leaderboard at The Amundi Evian Championship, one of whom is looking to become a Rolex First-Time Winner, one of whom is seeking her fourth major title and one of whom is hoping to win for the first time since 2023.

Three-time Epson Tour winner and 2023 Epson Tour Player of the Year Gabriela Ruffels heads up the Aussie contingent atop the scoreboard, currently sitting in a tie for first alongside Ladies European Tour member Cara Gainer at 11-under overall.

After taking a short vacation in London and attending Wimbledon with her boyfriend last week, the 25-year-old opened her campaign at Evian Resort Golf Club with a bogey-free 6-under 65 and then scrapped her way around this challenging venue on Friday, posting an even-par 71 to sit four shots off 36-hole leader Somi Lee’s pace with two days of play remaining in Evian-les-Bains, France in a tie for seventh.

Moving Day saw Ruffels recover from a bogey on the par-4 1st hole by making six birdies throughout the rest of her third round, two of which she made on two of the front-nine par 3s and four of which came in a five-hole stretch on the 11th, 12th, 14th and 15th holes. This is the first time in her LPGA Tour career that the Aussie has held a 54-hole lead or co-lead, and Ruffels has been enjoying the warmth of the major championship spotlight in France, as it’s one she hasn’t been in too terribly much since joining the LPGA last season.

“It was good. Super solid,” said Ruffels. “Started off with a bogey but was able to bounce back on No. 2. Then had, I think, six birdies from then on in. Putter was really good today. Made some putts inside 15 feet and was super solid tee to green. I feel like when you go low, you're not trying to. It just kind of happens. You get some momentum. And that's exactly what happened. I birdied I'm pretty sure it was 11 and 12 and then 14 and 15, so had a really good back nine. Finished really well and started to hit it really good.”

Lingering just one stroke behind Ruffels in a four-way tie for second are Australian LPGA Tour winners Grace Kim and Minjee Lee. Kim was a 2022 Epson Tour graduate and became a Rolex First-Time Winner in 2023 at the LOTTE Championship presented by Hoakalei, what remains her lone victory on the LPGA Tour.

The 24-year-old has been within five of the lead entering the final round nine other times in her career, most recently doing so at the 2025 Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give last month, but this is the first time Kim has found herself in this position at a major championship, an opportunity on which she will hope to capitalize in her third start at The Amundi Evian Championship despite not being in tip-top physical shape.

“I think the leaderboard is still pretty stacked,” Kim said. “Anyone can win this. Knowing that I still have a chance is always nice. To be able to carry that forward into tomorrow, just going to do the same thing. I know I'm a little bit under the weather, but I am going to try to do my best to do the same thing. No doubting myself. Just backing myself more than anything.”

Lee is the most recent major champion on the LPGA Tour, having won the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in June at Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco by three strokes over Auston Kim and Chanettee Wannasaen. It was her third major title and put Lee just one major away from completing the Career Grand Slam, and she will need a victory at either the AIG Women’s Open or next year’s Chevron Championship to become the eighth woman and second Australian to ever do so.

Now trailing by just a single stroke, the 29-year-old has the opportunity to become the second player in the last three seasons to win two major titles in a calendar year alongside Lilia Vu, who did so in 2023, and near closer to her fellow Aussie Karrie Webb’s tally of seven career major victories.

“I think just being here over the years, you know a little bit where the breaks are going,” the 2021 Amundi Evian Championship winner said when asked if her experience was an advantage. “I think in general being in this position before, being where I am probably by the end of today, I think it's going to be nice to have that experience under my belt and know like being there and being patient and (hanging tough) when it gets tough. You will still have a chance, and I think just play each shot as it goes.

“It's Evian, so the course may give you some bounces that might not go in your favor. That's the way it is for everybody. Hopefully a good Sunday tomorrow.”

It’s not super uncommon for LPGA Tour leaderboards to feature several players from the same country, as the circuit is one of the most global in the game. However, having three Aussies in the top five certainly stands out as unique, particularly at what is a notoriously tricky Evian Resort Golf Club.

And it’s that fact which begs the question, what is it with Australians and this venue?

Three-time major champion Lee has a theory. “I think a lot of the girls are very good ball strikers,” she said. “Definitely in Australia, we play with a little bit of wind, so we definitely have I think the ball striking. They all know how to hit on flat lies, so it's just more reading the lies, adjusting when you have to. We don't have a flat lie out there. Maybe on the tee boxes only. Maybe even not on the tee boxes. I think just solid ball striking, and they have good imagination and creativity. Maybe it's that.

Ruffels credits the junior development programs that Australia offers to young talent as a plausible explanation for the surge in Aussie success in recent years. “I'm not really surprised,” Ruffels said. “We've all been playing pretty well. I think there are six to eight of us out here now, so it goes to show what Golf Australia is doing and their program, and even Karrie Webb and what she's doing with her scholarship program. There are a lot of good Australian golfers coming out, and it's really cool to see.”

And Kim is just enjoying this moment alongside her fellow countrywomen, hoping that one of the trio will make the most of this moment in the final round at Evian Resort Golf Club.

“(It’s) pretty cool,” Kim said. “Obviously, Minjee has done this before. To be able to showcase more of the Aussie depth, I think that's really cool to show how far we've come and how bright our future is.”

There are 18 holes remaining in the year’s fourth major championship and anything can happen on the final day of this tournament, something that’s never been truer than in recent years. But at this juncture, the odds have seemed to tip heavily in Australia’s favor at The Amundi Evian Championship, and the 2025 season could see another Aussie crowned a major champion on Sunday afternoon in France.

Triple Threat of Australians In Top Five at The Amundi Evian Championship

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