Previewing the Evian — Quotes from Carton House
The IX: Golf Thursday with Marin Dremock, July 10, 2025
The 31st edition of The Amundi Evian Championship is here. Let’s dive into the tournament that’s in its 12th playing as a major championship.
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Welcome back to Golf Thursday, everyone.
The fourth major of the year is here: the 2025 Amundi Evian Championship in Évian-les-Bains, France. This tournament kicks off the LPGA’s brief European stint, with the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open and the AIG Women’s Open to follow.
The Evian is the youngest of the LPGA major championships. This means it hasn’t quite gotten the traction it’s warranted, but players and (some) fans love it. Golf in Europe is just different. As Addie Parker writes, “You come for the golf and stay for the excess.” With ticket prices that are equivalent to a weekend lunch for my partner and me, it’s unbeatable.
This year, the Evian is set to be a show. The course, Evian Resort Golf Club, is as gorgeous as ever, with iconic views and holes bordering Lake Geneva. Check out the famous par-3 2nd hole:
How can you beat an overlook like that?
Evian Resort is set to play around 6,500 yards this week. The length makes the course pretty gettable, but the track will still test the combined field of LPGA and Ladies European Tour (LET) players alike. The LET players might have the edge, as the style of golf course is quite different from those in the U.S. But the LPGA Tour golfers are global as well, so it’s really anyone’s tournament.
Lottie Woad, World Amateur No. 1 and 2025 KPMG Women’s Irish Open champion, praised the test Evian Resort gives and the rewards those who do their prep work get.
“Yeah, I think it’s a pretty strategic golf course. There is a lot of different kind of quadrants on the greens and maybe some angles that you want to have in that it’s going to be helpful to know now,” Woad said in a pre-tournament press conference on Wednesday, July 9. “Just knowing lines off tees and stuff like that is always helpful beforehand.”
A lot of accuracy is going to be necessary for the players that want to score well on this course. One such hole is the AON Risk Reward Challenge hole at Evian, the par-5 18th. This hole played 130 strokes under par last year, and the fairway is the hardest to hit on the course. I love a closing par 5; I think there’s no other tournament finish than with a gettable 18th hole…if you hit the fairway.
Hole No. 18 will definitely provide the drama coming down the stretch on Sunday, July 13, at the 2025 Amundi Evian Championship.
Now let’s check out who’s going to be involved in the drama. The LPGA and LET join forces for this event, so the field consists of players from both tours. And both tours have some firepower.
England’s Mimi Rhodes has three wins already this season in her rookie year on the LET. She’s making her mark in Europe for sure, and the courses seem to click with her game. It’s any day that she gets a major win under her belt, and with the season she’s having, it could be the Evian.
Rhodes leads the LET’s Order of Merit standings and has been working hard at conquering the mental load that golf can press on a player.
“Lately, I haven’t been enjoying it out there as much. So this week, I’m just focusing on having fun—making as many birdies as I can and seeing where that takes me,” Rhodes said to the LET. “Golf is such a mental game, so when you don’t have that comfort or confidence on the course, you kind of lose the enjoyment. You just naturally get a bit stressed, but I’ve been working a bit mentally to just try and enjoy it out there more and be grateful that it’s my job and I’m not sat in an office.”
Indeed, rookie! And Rhodes definitely isn’t alone with trying to rediscover the fun in golf. On the LPGA side, 2025 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship winner Minjee Lee is also in the field this week. She’s taken a few weeks off to recuperate going into the next major.
“Yeah, I definitely think it’s tough (to get motivated again),” Lee said in a pre-tournament press conference on Wednesday, July 9. “For me, even though I’ve been on Tour for a while, it (the win at the KPMG) was just a little bit different. And then having that last week—last two weeks off I was able to really reset and refocus on what my goals were this year. So I just kind of had a good time off to really not lose that kind of—lose the motivation after KPMG.”
Also trying to gain momentum is Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 1 Nelly Korda, who is still trying to find a win on the LPGA Tour this season. She’s had two top 10 finishes at Evian Resort but is searching for her first Amundi Evian Championship win. If she pulls it off this year, Korda would have three major championships under her belt. We might just be throwing around the words “Career Grand Slam” if she picks up a win this week.
You can catch the 2025 Amundi Evian Championship from Thursday, July 10 to Sunday, July 13 on Golf Channel.
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Five at The IX: World Amateur No. 1 Lottie Woad wins the 2025 KPMG Women’s Irish Open and other quotes from Carton House
2024 Augusta National Women’s Amateur champion Lottie Woad notched another incredible win under her belt with a victory at the 2025 KPMG Women’s Irish Open at Carton House. Woad started the final round with a 7-stroke lead and shot a Sunday 69 (-4) to claim the title. The 21-year-old from England has already cemented herself as a historic amateur contender, and this win was just another accolade to her already illustrious career. It was her first win on the Ladies European Tour.
Woad shot four rounds under 70 to post a tournament total of 271 (-21). But the leaderboard behind her was stacked, albeit six shots back of her first place. Sweden’s Madelene Sagström finished second, shooting a final-round 68 (-5) to get to 15-under for the tournament. New Zealand rookie Amelia Garvey claimed solo third place with a 6-under 67 that put her at 14-under-par. England’s Charley Hull was two shots behind Garvey, shooting a final-round 69 (-4) to sit at 12-under for the tournament. Here are some quotable moments from the LET’s conclusion of the 2025 KPMG Women’s Irish Open.
Lottie Woad (1) on what it means to get the win:
“Obviously, I had a big lead coming into today, but I still had to really focus as I was being chased by some really good players. I’m happy to get it done. It’s perfect. I feel like I’m playing well, and I hope to continue that into Evian next week.”
Woad on her game during the final round:
“It felt pretty comfortable overall, there were a few moments at the start of the back nine that could have gone wrong, but I managed to hang in there and finish with some nice birdies.
“As soon as I birdied the second hole with a nice 12-footer there, that settled me. I hit a lot of good shots, I didn’t hole as many putts as the other days, but it was pretty stress-free in the end.
“I think either my shot into 17 or the shot into 16 to set up birdie were the best ones because I wrapped it up from there, so that was nice.”
Madelene Sagström (2) on her golf game and the fickle nature of the sport:
“I’m really pleased with my game, especially pleased with my back nine. Shane [my caddie] asked if I was angry and I said I guess I am, but I’m really happy with the day.
“We’re all trying to do our best out here. Some days you win and most days you don’t, any day you can go out and shoot under-par while playing good golf, hitting good golf shots and making good decisions, then it’s a good day on the course.”
Madelene Sagström on Woad’s game:
“You can’t control what anyone else does. It was Lottie’s week; it was wonderful to watch her play. I played a bunch of golf with her. I’m really happy with her and she’s going to take European and American golf by storm very soon.”
Amelia Garvey (3) on her plans for the finishing round and continuing her rookie year:
“The plan was to make birdies early on and try and put a good front nine up. If she had come back to the field, you never know what could have happened, but she’s played great and it’s awesome to see the world number one amateur win this event. I did a good job.
“It’s all down to my coaches back in Manchester. I put in some really good work, I decided to take Jabra off and train back there with them. I’ve been feeling great since. I’m excited to be in the Scottish now, so I will keep playing and keep it up hopefully. I knew a good week here would get me in the AIG Women’s Open and it’ll be my first one, so I’m really looking forward to it.”
