Final-round report
Ko Jin-young won the Evian Championship by two strokes in France on Sunday, cementing her reputation as a player for big occasions with her second major victory of the year.
The South Korean seized control with a 15-foot birdie at the penultimate hole, where she perfectly read a sharply-breaking putt at the Evian Resort in Evian-les-Bains. She made par at the last before letting out a big smile, raising her arms in celebration and hurling her ball into the gallery.
Ko finished at 15-under 269, less than four months after claiming her maiden major title at the ANA Inspiration in the California desert. There are five official majors in women’s golf.
Ko came from four strokes behind the overnight leader, fellow Korean Kim Hyo-joo, whose hopes disappeared with a triple-bogey at the par-three 14th, where her ball plugged in a greenside bunker.
“Last night I thought if I play a really good (final round) I can win,” Ko said before being presented with the trophy by American skier Lindsey Vonn.
Kim (73), China’s Shanshan Feng (68) and American Jennifer Kupcho (66) tied for second on 13-under.
With her fifth LPGA Tour victory in less than two years, Ko, 24, is projected to reclaim her world number one ranking. There is no secret to Ko’s success other than a flawless swing and a consistency others can only dream of. Apart from her three LPGA wins this year, Ko has also finished runner-up three times, and has never been outside the top 30.
“She plays a mistake-proof game,” said Hall of Fame member Judy Rankin during the Golf Channel telecast.
The same said could not be said of overnight leader Kim, who butchered the 14th after finding her ball almost buried in a bunker. She took a hack at the ball, which almost made it on the green, only to roll back down into the bunker, and into one of her large footprints.
It was a happier day for Kupcho, who turned pro in May after winning the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship. “I came into the day not expecting to win so to play the way I did, especially on a Sunday, as new as I am out here, it’s pretty exciting,” Kupcho said.
Sunday’s round was delayed by heavy rain, and the final group did not finish until after 7.30 pm local time. The final group crawled around the back nine in two hours and 47 minutes, but at least they finished, saving the tournament from spilling into Monday.
The Evian was the first of back-to-back majors, ahead of the Women’s British Open that will start at Woburn on Thursday. Reuters
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And so Ko Jin-young adds the Evian to this year’s ANA Inspiration. Her second major of the season was richly deserved, that silky swing standing up to scrutiny when the pressure was cranked up on the back nine. You have to have some sympathy for Kim Hyo-joo, her tee shot plugging right up against the face of the bunker on 14, leading to a triple-bogey punishment that was all out of whack with the crime. Even so, she was always second-best to Ko today. The right woman won. A word of praise too for Shanshan Feng, who shot four sub-70 rounds this week, and Jennifer Kupcho, the US prospect following up her Augusta National amateur win with a second-place finish in a major as a pro. Congratulations to Ko Jin-young, commiserations to Kim Hyo-joo, and thanks to everyone for reading. Hope to see you next week for all four days of the British Open!
-15: Ko
-13: Kupcho, Feng, Kim
-11: A Jutanugarn
-10: M Jutanugarn, S Park
-9: Khang, I Park
-8: Ciganda
Ko Jin-young wins the 2019 Evian Championship!
The brilliant 24-year-old South Korean tidies up for par, and she’s the deserved winner of the Evian! A 67 to finish, a quite brilliant round of golf on a day when her closest competitors capitulated.
-15: Ko
-13: Kupcho, Feng, Kim
Ko has been made to wait quite a while. Park wedges out to five feet. Ko then gets her chance to putt. She rolls her birdie effort four feet past. Kim knocks her birdie putt in for a 73. She’s -13 and will have a share of second place. She’ll be ruing that tee shot on 14. Park then sends her par putt three feet past. Bogey, a miserable 75, and she ends the week at -10, tied for sixth. The fiasco of the 18th hole was her round in microcosm.
A farcical end to Park’s round. She’s squatting on a rock in the middle of the flower bed, wondering what the situation with a loose impediment is. She’s allowed to move it without penalty. Then she bashes out of the flowers, Caddyshack style, over the green and into the deep rough on the other side. Not bad given she was still balancing on that rock.
Ko does what she needs to do. A wedge into the heart of the green from 100 yards. She’s not particularly close, 30 feet away perhaps, but then she’ll have three putts for victory! Kim, the pressure off, wedges to six feet.
Ko and Kim lay up with their second shots. Park Sung-hyun decides to go for it, taking out the fairway wood, and sends a huge slice into the flower arrangement to the right of the green. That might even have bounced a little further, in which case it’s out of bounds. But we’ll see. Either way, it’s a denouement in keeping with her dismal final round.
Up on the green, Inbee Park pars to sign for a very disappointing 73. Like her namesake Sung-hyun, she wasn’t at the races today. She ends the week at -9, yet again tied for eighth, equalling her best finish in this event, a result she achieved in 2015 and 2018. The super grand slam still eludes her.
One of the most important tee shots of Ko Jin-young’s life coming up. She plays it safe with a 3-wood ... and that sensationally smooth swing doesn’t let her down. Down the fairway. Two careful shots to the green, and this is all over! Fine drives by Kim and Park, too, as they realistically look for the final birdies that’ll improve their position.
Feng wedges into the last. It’s decent, nothing more, and she’s left with a 20-footer for a closing birdie. Her putt is a fine effort, gently oscillating this way and that. But it somehow stops on the right lip. It’s a fine 66, and that’s a share of the clubhouse lead with Kupcho. And here’s the thin line between success and failure: back on 17, Ko curls in a left-to-right birdie putt! She’s waving her putter in the sky before the ball drops. A perfect putt, perfectly timed in narrative terms. As Kim and Park par, she walks off to the 18th tee with a two-shot lead.
-15: Ko (17)
-13: Kupcho (F), Feng (F)
-12: Kim (17)
-11: A Jutanugarn (F), S Park (17)
Ko sends her second at 17 over the flag. She’ll have a look at birdie from 20 feet coming back. That’s decent enough, given the state of play, and she shares a laugh and a joke with her caddie. Kim is just inside her, and really needs to make her putt if she’s to salvage this situation. Park’s approach is down a swale to the left; every time she’s taken a step forward today, she slides straight back.
Ko, Kim and Park all bash their tee shots at 17 straight down the middle. Up on 18, Feng lays up with her second. This is coming rather deliciously to the boil.
Feng’s drive at 18 is arrowed down the middle. Exactly what’s required. Back on 16, the leader Ko knocks her tee shot over the flag to 12 feet, but the left-to-right birdie putt’s never dropping. Par for Kim. And birdie for Park Sung-hyun, whose world-number-one-style tee shot lands 12 feet to the right of the flag, kicks left off the bank, and stops three feet from the hole. She’s not quite out of it yet! This final round took quite a while to ignite - blame the incessant rain - but my word what a finish we have here! So many possibilities!
-14: Ko (16)
-13: Kupcho (F), Feng (17)
-12: Kim (16)
-11: A Jutanugarn (F), S Park (16)
It was a strong finish by Moriya Jutanugarn. Birdies at 16 and 18, the latter reward for a wedge sent to kick-in distance. She signs for a 68 and ends the week at -10. Then eagle for her sister Ariya, coming up behind, and she’s shot 68 as well, finishing a shot better off at -11. Meanwhile on 17, Shanshan Feng isn’t finished: she fizzes her second shot to 15 feet, and guides in the left-to-right curler for birdie! She’s just a shot off the lead at -13, and with the relatively easy par-five 18th to come!
No bounce-back birdie for Kim on 15. She nearly curls in a big right-to-left breaker from the fringe, but par will have to do, and her head drops a little. Park duffs a chip from the side of the green, and then hits the flagstick again with another overcooked wedge. This one doesn’t drop, but the tap-in that’s left limits the damage to bogey. She’s -10. And finally Ko’s birdie putt slips by. Par.
-14: Ko (15)
-13: Kupcho (F)
-12: Feng (16), Kim (15)
-10: M Jutanugarn (F), S Park (15)
Jennifer Kupcho tidies up for her birdie on 18! That’s three birdies in the last four holes, and he’s one off the lead. A magnificent 66 of carpe-diem brilliance from the Augusta National amateur champion!
-14: Ko (14)
-13: Kupcho (F)
-12: Feng (16), Kim (14)
Kupcho chips up from the bank. Her ball bounds ten feet past the hole, but stops softly and then is gathered back towards the cup by the camber of the green. She’ll have a five-footer to make that birdie. Though up on 15, Ko takes three careful shots down the middle of the par five, and she’ll have a look at birdie from 12 feet. It might be enough to seal the deal.
Jennifer Kupcho has clearly decided that she’s not going to leave Évian-les-Bains wondering. Out comes the fairway wood at 18. She’s going for it, over the creek. And she only just makes it, the ball snagging on the bank on the other side. That was a yard away from a watery grave. You’ve got to admire her style. Up and down for birdie, and she’ll be signing for her second 66 of the week ... and setting a clubhouse lead of -13. If she can make it, she’ll be posing the leader Ko Jim-young a question.
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Kim was two shots clear not very long ago. Now she’s two behind. How on earth will she respond to the dramatic events on 14? Her tee shot back there wasn’t great, but even so, plugging right up against the face was outrageously bad luck. Consider the fortune of Sung-hyun Park, whose tee shot was no better, and whose bunker shot was really travelling. It sounds ridiculous, but it really is a thin line between birdie and triple bogey. Golf, right there, in a nutshell.
Kim putts from the fringe and nearly sinks an outrageous bogey putt, the ball slithering this way and that over a couple of humps. But it rolls six feet past, and she can’t make the one coming back. A triple bogey. Meanwhile Ko lags a wonder putt from 70 feet to kick-in distance. Par, and she’s suddenly two shots in the lead! And if that’s not enough drama, up on 17, Kupcho sends her tee shot down the right, forcing her to go over some trees if she wants to reach the green. A sensational wedge over lands on the fringe, and she rattles in a 25-footer for her fourth birdie of the day! All of a sudden, everything’s changed. Major-championship golf, folks, right here!
-14: Ko (14)
-12: Kupcho (17), Feng (15), Kim (14)
-11: S Park (14)
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Less than half of Kim’s ball is visible. She does extremely well to blast it straight into the air, avoiding the face. But it lands on the bank and topples back in. Adding insult to injury, it lands in her deep footprint. That’s awful luck. But instead of bemoaning her luck, she quickly gets back to work, and splashes out before the situation overwhelms her. It’s a fine escape, though her ball only just reaches the fringe.
Kim’s lie: it’s a horror show. Plugged, right under the lip. Before she can work out what to do, Park - also in the bunker - whips a hot one out. The ball would have flown miles past the flag, perhaps off the other side of the green ... had it not hit the flagstick and dropped into the cup! An outrageous birdie that brings her back to -11. And with Kim in all sorts of bother, she’s no longer out of this!
Ko takes 6-iron on the par-three 14th. Not enough club, though it finds the front of the long, deep green. Kim sends her hybrid into the deep bunker to the right of the dancefloor. Advantage Ko, just about, though much will depend on Kim’s lie.
Ko Jin-young makes a move on 13! She sinks a long right-to-left swinger for a birdie out of nowhere, and the gap is down to one again. Pars for the leader Kim Hyo-joo and Park Sung-hyun. And Jennifer Kupcho gets out of 16 with a par, lagging her long birdie putt to the cup and tidying up.
-15: Kim (13)
-14: Ko (13)
-12: Feng (14)
-11: Kupcho (16)
Kupcho plays the game with a smile. She wedges her tee shot into the heart of the short par-three 16th. The ball screws back violently and nearly topples into the lake, but is held up by the fringe. So nearly a fine shot; so nearly a disaster. But the young American simply laughs casually. Still, that’ll be a tricky two putts for par, up against the fringe.
Jennifer Kupcho is the real deal. She’s had a year to remember already, winning the inaugural Augusta Women’s Amateur title, and turning professional. But now she’s threatening to win her first major in only her eighth start as a pro! Birdie at 15 now, her third of the day, the rest pars. She’s four back at -11, but remember there’s an eagle chance at the 18th. And if the leaders wobble ... well, what a story this would be. Whatever happens, though, she’s announced herself as a real talent.
The start of a late surge by Inbee Park? It’s almost certainly too late, but having birdied 11, she drains a monster right-to-left curler on 13 to move up to -9. Hopes of a first Evian Championship for the seven-time major winner aren’t quite extinguished yet, but she’ll need a superb finish, and hope that Kim Hyo-joo and Ko Young-jin both collapse ignominiously.
Park’s par putt at 12 is never dropping, and there goes yet another shot. The world number one is four over for her round today. Quite a contrast to her first three rounds of 67, 66 and 66. She really doesn’t like wet and cold conditions. Not that her partners do any better on the hole, which is playing as the hardest today. Both miss their par savers, and there’s a bit of backslide at the top of the leaderboard.
-15: Kim (12)
-13: Ko (12)
-12: Feng (12)
-10: Kupcho (14), S Park (12)
-9: A Jutanugarn (13)
Kim’s splash from sand is tentative, and only just creeps over the face and out. Her ball rolls apologetically onto the fringe. Ko clips crisply to eight feet, not good, not bad from where she was, down the bank in tousled nonsense. But Park, just off the side, chunks her chip. She’s left with a 20-footer coming back. The former US Open and PGA winner is way off her game today.
Kim’s second into 12 takes a huge kick left and bounds into a greenside bunker. The door’s ajar for Ko, but her second lands hard on the green and sails long and left. She’s worried it’s gone out of bounds, but it’s OK, in so much as it’s in the filthy rough. Park follows her in. All three with work to do for their pars.
Ariya Jutanugarn has been quite the entertainer around the turn. Birdies at 8 and 9, bogey at 10, birdie at 11, and now bogey at 12. She’s -9. Meanwhile Shanshan Feng, having turned in 32, bogeyed 10 and lipped out for birdie on 11; she’s four back at -12.
Park Sung-hyun can’t say she hasn’t had the breaks today. Her second shot into the trees was abysmal, but her ball rebounds out of the forest and lands in the semi-rough again. And there’s a route into the green. She wedges a delightful third to 12 feet - the cream always rises - but her flat stick is stone cold. Her chance of saving an unlikely par trundles three feet past, then she yips the one coming back. A double-bogey six, and with the leader Kim making her birdie putt - Ko settles for par - the world number-one looks a beaten docket today.
-16: Kim (11)
-14: Ko (11)
-12: Feng (11)
-11: S Park (11)
It could be the end of Park Sung-hyun’s bid, too. Her driving has been off all day, and on 11 she sends a big hook into the trees. She gets a member’s bounce back into the semi-rough, but she’s lost a lot of yardage. So out comes too much club. Not enough loft to get over the trees at the side of the gentle dogleg left. She fires her ball low and left, straight into the branches and more trouble. Meanwhile Kim and Ko both wedge their second shots to 12 feet, setting up good looks at birdie. There could be some significant separation at the top soon.
Moriya Jutanugarn’s race is run. A double bogey at 12 after finding herself plugged in a bunker by the green. She slips to -8. She’s alongside Carlota Ciganda, whose consistency in the majors, without reward, is almost Rickie Fowleresque. She’s got the game to become Spain’s first major winner. Perhaps next week at Woburn. But it won’t be today. Still, birdies at 10 and 13 have lifted her up the standings.
Shot of the day, perhaps the entire week, by Ko Jin-young at 10! The reigning ANA champ whips a wedge from 140 yards to a matter of inches, the ball nearly slam-dunking straight into the cup, bouncing a second time right next to the pin, and landing a foot past. She’ll tap that in to move to within a shot of the leader! Ko is the only player in the final group under par. She’s the one who looks like seizing the day, because that was simply sensational! Pars meanwhile for Sung-hyun Park and Kim, and this is becoming very interesting now.
-15: Kim (10)
-14: Ko (10)
-13: S Park (10)
It’s taken the last group two hours and 48 minutes to complete the front nine. The conditions, the threesomes, and the lift, clean and place rules haven’t helped. But it’s been slow nonetheless. An awful lot of time being taken over some very short putts, to no apparent benefit in terms of quality. You have to wonder whether professionals across the board would be better served taking these short ones quickly, without too much thought, like Darren Clarke used to do. Park Sung-hyun’s speed-to-result ratio today has been particularly poor. Brooks Koepka speaks for the HBH report on this topic.
Kim pulls her putt to the left. Par. Ko then prods with great uncertainty at her shorter effort, and it dribbles away to the right. And finally Park tugs her one left. Nobody will be particularly happy with that miserable collection of putts, though in the context of the tournament that’s a huge let-off for the leader Kim, who remains two in front.
-15: Kim (9)
-13: Feng (9), Ko (9), S Park (9)
-10: Kupcho (10), M Jutanugarn (10)
Ariya Jutanugarn sends a woeful chip whistling up the bank at 10 and miles past the hole. That was really heavy handed, and the resulting bogey might have cost her an outside chance of the title. She slips back to -9. Meanwhile back on the par-five 9th, Ko finds herself just off the front in two, and nearly chips in for eagle. But it rolls six feet past. Park Sung-hyun is also just off in two, but her chip up checks and stops six feet short. Neither birdie effort left is a gimme. With Kim looking at birdie from 12 feet, this is a big couple of minutes coming up!
The rain’s getting heavier. So much for the conditions improving during the afternoon. Birdie for Moriya Jutanugarn on 10; she’s keeping on her sister Ariya’s tail. They’re both -10 now. And Shanshan Feng gets up and down from the front of 9, hitting the turn in 32! Two off the lead at -13, she’s right in this tournament now ... unlike her partners Lee (-6) and Inbee Park (-8) who have gone out in 39 and 38 respectively.
-15: Kim (8)
-13: Feng (9), Ko (8), S Park (8)
-10: Kupcho (10), M Jutanugarn (10), A Jutanugarn (9)
-8: I Park (9), Khang (9)
Birdie for Ariya Jutanugarn at 9. She’s -10. Megan Khang tries her best to miss a four-footer at the same hole after a glorious approach, but the hole snaffles the ball just in time. After a dropped stroke at 7, she’s back to -8.
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The leader Kim Hyo-joo makes her first birdie of the day ... and in what style! Her tee shot into the par-three 8th isn’t all that. She’s 40 feet from the flag. But she rolls in a gentle right-to-left slider, perfectly paced to tease the crowd as it threatens to stop a turn short before falling gently into the cup. She rises her putter into the air like Nicklaus at Augusta in ‘86, and allows a smile to briefly tickle at the corners of her mouth. She fights it, but the cat’s out of the bag, and that’ll have settled her after a nondescript start. And the rake spooks her opponents, because SH Park and Ko both miss ten-footers for birdie. What a momentum shifter!
-15: Kim (8)
-13: Ko (8), SH Park (8)
-12: Feng (8)
Moriya Jutanugarn screeches a gorgeous chip to kick-in distance at 9. A birdie that takes her up to -9, cancelling out the bogey she’d made at 7. Her playing partner Jennifer Kupcho meanwhile splashes from sand to four feet, but pulls a nervous birdie putt left. That’s a punch to the guts right at the end of a fine front nine. She still turns in 33, but needs every shot if she’s to add a professional major to her Augusta National amateur title.
-14: Kim (7)
-13: SH Park (7), Ko (7)
-12: Feng (8)
-10: Kupcho (9)
-9: M Jutanugarn (9), A Jutanugarn (8)
-8: I Park (8)
The leader Kim is short of the par-five 7th in three. She could do with another of her trademark scrambles here. But her chip in is weak, stopping 12 feet short of the cup. The next putt is huge, because both of the other players in this final group have birdie putts just inside her. In it goes! That ensures she retains her lead, because SH Park makes her birdie to move to within one again.
-14: Kim (7)
-13: SH Park (7), Ko (7)
-12: Feng (8)
The two-time major winner Ariya Jutanugarn breaks a run of pars with birdie at 8. She’s keeping herself within touching distance at -9. Meanwhile a word on Lee Mi-hyang, the runner-up at this year’s ANA. Her round has gone from bad to worse since that double at 3; bogeys at 4, 5 and 6 have crashed her all the way down the leaderboard to -5. Missing a short birdie putt at the par-five 7th won’t have improved her mood. Another year to wait for a major breakthrough that’s surely got to come for the 26-year-old South Korean.
This is golf, and even seven-time major winners can struggle. Inbee Park just needs this tournament to become only the second player, after Karrie Webb, to complete a five-major Super Grand Slam. (She’s already got a career Grand Slam to her name, for winning the other four, as per LPGA policy, the Evian only having been a fifth major since 2013.) It doesn’t look like she’ll complete the set today, sadly. Her tee shot at 7 is tugged into rough down the right; the second is a full-blown slice. Her third goes straight left into a deep bunker at the front of the green. She can’t get up and down, and that’s her third bogey of the day. She’s -8 and though she’s only six behind, her game doesn’t look in any sort of shape for a challenge.
The reigning ANA champion Ko Jin-young has been going along smoothly. Five pars to open. But now she strokes in a 20-footer for birdie at 6 to move within two strokes of the lead. Up on 8, Kupcho, competing in only her eighth tournament as a professional, clips her tee shot to six feet and knocks in the putt. This is heating up rather nicely, despite the state of the weather!
-14: Kim (6)
-12: Feng (6), Ko (6), SH Park (6)
-10: Kupcho (8)
-9: I Park (6)
Meanwhile on 6, Feng looks utterly disgusted with herself upon sending her second shot into the green. But her ball screeches to a halt three feet from the flag. A lucky break? Or maybe she was just moaning about the weather, which would be fair enough. It’s rank. In goes the birdie putt, and the 2012 PGA champ is right in the mix now, currently on course to better her third-place finish here in 2015 ... and surely now entertaining thoughts of a second major title. She looks relaxed out there - the histrionics back up the fairway aside - unlike a few of her competitors.
-14: Kim (5)
-12: Feng (6), SH Park (5)
-11: Ko (5)
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Kim nearly drains a monster for birdie across 5. A tap-in for par. Par for Ko as well. But it’s a third bogey of the day for the world number one SH Park, who races her birdie putt six feet past, then pulls the one coming back, the ball lipping out. She looks highly uncomfortable in her rain gear, tucking various hanging bits under her arms as she addresses her putts. None of this augurs well for the rest of the round, because this weather isn’t going away.
The rain is coming down in stair-rods now. All three members of the final group find the par-three 5th with their tee shots, though the leader Kim tugs her effort miles left of the flag. She’s lucky the green is so big. SH Park meanwhile suffers some bad luck for once: she fires an iron straight at the flag. A couple of feet further, and it would have rolled extremely close indeed. But her ball careers off a downslope and rattles 15 feet past. Still a birdie chance, but it deserved so much more.
Inbee Park is hanging on by her fingernails. Her tee shot at the par-three 5th comes up short. But she does extremely well to get up and down from sand, avoiding the ignominy of three bogeys on the bounce. She remains at -9. With the rain getting heavier and the wind rising, the South Korean superstar’s hopes of landing the one major to elude her aren’t over yet. “Fantastic leaderboard,” writes Lucy Wesson. “With this weather, anything is possible. And you have the Jutanugarns and two solid Americans looking for their first titles (Kupcho and one of my favorites, Khang) ready to pounce! Great tournament! And I will be here with bells on for the women’s Open Championship next weekend, unless wearing bells is frowned upon round these parts.” They force me to sit in the corner of the office in a jester’s hat, so I think you’ll be fine.
Two putts for SH Park. A par she’d have grabbed with both hands when her drive was arcing towards bother. She can’t keep getting away with those wild tee shots, though. At some point, she’ll cop a bad lie. Ko ends up with her fourth par in four holes. And finally Kim, who is an inch’s worth of energy away from guiding in a left-to-right curler, but has to settle for par as well. It’s as you were at the top.
SH Park’s third drive of the day, and yet again it’s pulled left. And for the third time, she gets the benefit of a break, her ball stopping one bounce short of the really thick stuff. She’s able to hoick her second into the heart of the green, though that’s two-putt territory. Her partners Kim and Ko are also on in regulation, with half-chances for birdie from 15 feet or so. Meanwhile another birdie for Moriya Jutanugarn, at 6, and she rises to -9.
The former world number-one Shanshan Feng clips her second at 4 to eight feet. That’s beautifully controlled, and she knocks in the putt for birdie. She moves to -11, but it’s back-to-back bogeys for her playing partner Inbee Park, who pays the price after completely mishitting her second, a low hook into some mutant cabbage down the left. At the moment, this looks like a four-way fight. Mind you, there’s an awfully long way to go, and it’s raining again to boot.
-14: Kim (3)
-13: SH Park (3)
-11: Feng (4), Ko (3)
-9: Kupcho (5), I Park (4)
-8: A Jutanugarn (5), M Jutanugarn (5), Khang (5)
A break for SH Park, who once again finds her ball sitting up in the rough after a wild drive. It allows her to swish a lovely lob wedge into the heart of the green, setting up a birdie chance from 15 feet. And in it goes! Not so much luck for the leader Kim, whose drive was heading for a bunker but caught in the rough just in front. She’s forced to play her second standing down in the sand, her ball well above her feet. But she nearly reaches the green anyway, manufacturing a lovely approach that sends her ball to the fringe. But she can’t get up and down, and suddenly the lead is back to one. It’s three pars in a row for Ko, meanwhile, and she’s just three off the pace at -11. And birdie for Moriya Jutanugarn on 4. She joins her younger sister Ariya at -8.
-14: Kim (3)
-13: SH Park (3)
-11: Ko (3)
-10: Feng (3), I Park (3)
-9: Kupcho (5)
Bogey for Inbee Park at 3, the result of a miserable approach pulled into thick filth down the left. She’s -10. Meanwhile her playing partner Lee Mi-hyang doubles, having zig-zagged her way down the hole. She’s -8, her chances severely compromised now. Back on the tee, Park Sung-hyun sends another drive into the rough on the left. That’s two out of two. She looks a little restricted in her rain gear, her swing not in sync. She’s spoken before of her dislike for playing in wet, cold conditions, and yesterday evening’s quotes - “I don’t think anything is going to change with the weather, I have played in the rain a lot of times, so I will focus on my game” - smacked of a player protesting too much.
It’s a bogey-bogey start for Park. The world number one races a long birdie effort at the par-three 2nd 15 feet past the hole. She can’t make the saver coming back, and suddenly Kim, who along with Ko makes a fuss-free two-putt par, has a healthy lead at the top.
-15: Kim (2)
-12: SH Park (2)
-11: I Park (2), Ko (2)
Caroline Hedwall shot a fantastic 64 on Friday, but the climate’s closing in on the 30-year-old Swede today. Bogeys at 1 and 3, and her slim chance of victory is gone. She clatters back down to -7. She’s slipped down the rankings to 11th a result, and her second top-ten career finish in a major (the first being a tie for third at the 2013 ANA) is suddenly in jeopardy. “Thank you for the live blog coverage of the LPGA Evian Championship,” begins Lucy Wesson. “As a woman golfer, I love finding good coverage of these events. And I love the random Orson Welles commercials - awesome call backs! Cheers from America while I’m having my morning coffee.” And it’s just a few hours until you can crack open one of Paul Masson’s famous Californian carafes. By the way, we’ll be covering all four days of the British Open live, so hopefully we’ll see you again later this week for that.
The aforementioned Mirim Lee is the only player within nine shots of the lead to be under par for her round so far. The chasing pack are static. Pars for Shanshan Feng, Lee Mi-hyang and super-slam-chasing Inbee Park at 2. Ah but here we go! Jennifer Kupcho, who at 22 has already made an indelible mark on the sport by winning the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur this year, birdies 3 to rise to -9. A lovely second shot pin high to eight feet. She wanders off smiling broadly, despite the rain coming down again.
Kim is the leader in scrambling on the LPGA Tour, and she displays her greenside smarts by sending a crisp chip up the bank to a couple of feet. Par. Park’s effort from a similar position is poor, however, an uncertain jab that checks the second it lands on the front of the green. She’s left with a 12-footer for par. It’s always missing on the right. That’s a poor opening bogey. Ko meanwhile lags up from distance and tidies up for par. The leader’s cushion at the top is now two.
-15: Kim (1)
-13: SH Park (1)
-11: I Park (1), Ko (1)
-10: Lee (1), Feng (1)
Kim’s ball is sitting up in the rough. She’s able to fire a low iron towards the green, and there her luck runs out: instead of creeping onto the front, close to the flag, her ball breaks left and down a swale. That was one turn away from perfection. It’s a thin line. Ko is on in regulation, though not particularly close. Finally it’s the turn of Park, who takes up a huge divot and comes up well short of the green. The importance of finding the fairway and avoiding the damp rough, illustrated perfectly right here.
The final group are out and about! And it’s not an ideal start for the leader Kim Hyo-joo, whose opening drive finds the thick, wet rough down the left. The world number one Park Sung-hyun’s first tee shot just creeps in there too, narrowly avoiding a large bunker. The third South Korean in the group, Ko Jin-young, finds the middle of the fairway. But her ball thunks to an immediate stop, evidence that there won’t be much run this afternoon.
“You’ve seen Orson’s other wine commercial, right?” Our old pal Tom Lutz, there, practically begging me to post this fine clip of a master at work. Action is imminent, I feel it necessary to add.
The early signs suggest low scores will come at a premium this afternoon. Of the early starters, many more players are over par for their rounds than under it. Yu Liu, Choi Hye-jin, Hsu Wei-ling and Caroline Masson are all three over already today, and none of them have played more than five holes. Amy Olson is four over through 4. Today could prove a battle. Enough to drive anyone to drink.
Umbrellas are up again on the shores of Lake Geneva. Nothing too dramatic, and the rain’s expected to ease off as the afternoon progresses. Expect the players to attack a few of the pins, the greens being so soft and receptive. On the other hand, the fairways are still a bit sodden, so the course will be playing a little longer. Pick-and-place rules are in effect. Nobody from the pack is making an early run, the sole exception being Mirim Lee, with back-to-back birdies at 2 and 3. She’s -6. The leaders will be out soon enough, and then we’ll really get going.
Guardian fake news dept. Turns out the last entry shouldn’t be time-stamped 11.33am, but misinformation o’clock. It’s the coverage that won’t be kicking in for an hour or so. In fact, the early groups have taken to the course already, with the sky looking considerably brighter. Nothing of note to report yet, other than Jing Yan’s entertaining start to the round: birdie, triple bogey, birdie. She’s level par for the tournament. Significant news when we have it. You’ve still got time to nip out for the Observer and 20 Bensons, if we’re being honest.
The course has taken a real hammering, and the start has been further delayed. The greenkeeping staff are doing their best to drain the waterlogged tees, fairways and greens, but it’s a big ask. Still, here’s some good news: conditions are improving, and they hope to get proceedings underway in the next 60 to 90 minutes. When they snap into action, so shall we.
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Preamble
When the LPGA awarded the Evian Championship major status back in 2013, the tournament was moved from July to September. Cue rain and wind affecting proceedings, to such an extent that organisers shifted it back this year to July. Well, guess what. Yep. No prizes.
Le Tour hasn’t been the only big sporting event in France to be seriously affected by the weather this week. The blistering heat of the first two days at the Evian Resort Golf Club in Évian-les-Bains was fine: only Lexi Thompson got hot under the collar, missing the cut then speaking of her annoyance at watching good drives taking hard bounces off cooked fairways and into trouble. But since then, storms have been an issue, with the field sent out yesterday in threesomes off split tees at seven in the morning to avoid a tempest.
That worked out well, with the poor weather only arriving as the final groups finished their rounds. But there’s been more meteorological bother, with heavy overnight rain flooding fairways and tee boxes. So today the players will again take to the Evian Resort course in threesomes, going off two tees, but this time the play’s been pushed back a couple of hours. The leading pack will be teeing off between 12pm and 1pm BST. But while Le Tour is all over bar the shouting, as the peloton ceremonially trundles into Paris, the 25th edition of the Evian is still very much up in the air, as the 54-hole leaderboard shows:
-15: Kim Hyo-joo
-14: Park Sung-hyun
-11: Ko Jin-young, Inbee Park
-10: Shanshan Feng, Lee Mi-hyang
-9: Caroline Hedwall
-8: Ariya Jutanugarn, Megan Khang, Chella Choi
Plenty of major-winning experience there. The leader Kim Hyo-joo won the 2014 edition of this tournament, shooting 61 along the way. Park Sung-hyun is the world number one, winner of the 2017 US Open and the 2018 PGA, and nearly snatched this year’s PGA from under the nose of Hannah Green. Inbee Park just needs this title to complete the current five-major set. Ko Jin-young, she of a swing so graceful she makes Freddie Couples look like Jim Furyk, won this year’s ANA. Shanshan Feng won the 2012 PGA. And Ariya Jutanugarn has both US and British Opens on her resume. In conclusion: it’s on! A bit later than anticipated, perhaps, but on.
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