Three rounds are in the books at the 2025 Evian Championship, and two players looking for their first LPGA wins are leading the way.
Gabi Ruffels, the 25-year-old, much hyped Australian, came into the day sitting four strokes back at -6, and got off to a rough start with a bogey on the first. She recovered quickly though and never looked back, making a birdie on the par 3 second hole, before making five more birdies with no dropped shots.
Ruffels was fantastic on the approach all day, hitting 16 greens and having some truly special shots. The most notable of those came on the par 5 15, where she nearly holed out for eagle. Ruffels paired her great iron play with nice putting, needing 28 strokes with the flat stick in round three.
While Ruffels had a good rookie campaign in 2024 with four top-10s and a couple of near wins, 2025 has been a step back. She hasn’t really been in contention heading into the weekend yet and her 14th place finish at Meijer is her best of the season. The young Aussie has been trending better though as of late and a win here could really propel her forward.
The real shocker both of the day and the tournament overall is Cara Gainer, a 29-year-old from England who is ranked No. 129 in the world. Gainer plays her golf on the Ladies European Tour and despite turning professional in 2020, is making just her second major championship start. She has been trending up though as of late, with a few top-10 finishes on the LET.
Gainer came into the day six shots back of the lead, but quickly rose up the leaderboard thanks to a -4 opening nine. She made three more birdies on the back nine to shoot -7 64 for the day and went -4 on the four par 5s.
Interestingly, both Gainer and Ruffels came to golf late after decorated tennis careers. Gainer didn’t start playing golf until she was 14-years-old and Ruffels started playing full time at 15-years-old after being at one point the top ranked junior tennis player in Australia.
Trailing the two leaders are a host of heavy hitters, led by the most recent major winner, a three-time major champion, Minjee Lee. Lee had another fantastic day and has played her last 30 holes in -10. Also one stroke back are world No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul and Somi Lee who is the player trending up the most in the game right now. Grace Kim rounds out the group tied for third.
The final round is truly up for grabs, and it will air beginning at 4 AM Eastern on Golf Channel.
