The Evian Championship is a bit of an odd duck in the landscape of major championship golf. Between the PGA Tour, LPGA Tour and both the Champions and Legends Tours, it is the only major not held in the United States or Great Britain. The design and upkeep of the course have also led to controversy among the players.
The Evian was first established in 1994 as an event on the Ladies European Tour played at the Evian Resort Club. The course is located right on Lake Geneva near the border of France and Switzerland. The piece of land is undeniably beautiful, and the course features dramatic elevation changes and a fairly quirky design.
After six years being played as a stop on the LET, the LPGA Tour began to co-sanction the event in 2000. The first playing of the event as an official LPGA Tour stop came down to a playoff with two of the greatest players of their era, Annika Sörenstam and Karrie Webb. Sörenstam eventually won, setting off a chain of superstar champions that helped raise the profile of the young tournament. Juli Inkster, Paula Creamer, Karrie Webb, Jiyai Shin and Inbee Park were among the champions of the second phase of the Evian.
In 2013, the Evian was played as a major championship for the first time, and won by Solheim Cup legend Suzann Pettersen by two strokes over amateur Lydia Ko. For major scheduling purposes, the tournament was played in September, causing it to be shortened to 54 holes because of weather. The Evian was again reduced to 54 holes in 2017, causing it to be moved back to the middle of the summer in July, where it still sits.
Shortened events aren’t the only reason for controversy. Lexi Thompson wrote a scathing Instagram post in 2019 that was promptly deleted, but in it she voiced her displeasure with the course, saying it was too punishing to good shots and claiming she was “thankful” she didn’t have to put herself through it for two more days after missing the cut. She later claimed the post wasn’t anything against the course or the tournament and more out of frustration of not playing well, but Thompson hasn’t been in the field here since.
Thompson isn’t the only prominent American who has criticized Evian. Two-time major champion Stacy Lewis has played Evian just once since 2017 and that year said: “I think if we are going to call it a major, we have to treat it like one. It’s not treated like a major, and yet we are calling it that.”
Despite the criticism, Evian has produced as good of a roster of major champions as any tournament since 2013. Hyo Joo Kim, Lydia Ko, In Gee Chun, Anna Nordqvist, Angela Stanford, Jin Young Ko, Minjee Lee, Brooke Henderson, Celine Boutier and Ayaka Furue join Pettersen as the players to hoist a major championship trophy at Evian. Not too shabby.
Minjee Lee’s win in particular is a notable moment in women’s golf history. At the 2021 Evian, Lee entered the final round seven strokes back of major champion Jeongeun Lee6. Lee’s incredible final round 64, combined with a pedestrian 71 for Lee6 led to one of the most unlikely comebacks in major championship history. It was Lee’s first career major. Since then, she has added two more, including at the most recent KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
In 2023, Celine Boutier became the first French golfer to win a major championship in their home country. She was the first Frenchwoman to ever win her home-country event.
In 2024, the Evian was arguably the most exciting of the five majors on the schedule, when Ayaka Furue entered the 13th hole three strokes back of Lauren Coughlin, but went -5 on the last five holes to storm back and win in regulation.
If recent history tells us anything, expect an exciting show this weekend at The Evian Championship.
