Nelly Korda vs. Korean sisters: All eyes on Evian Championship this week

The Amundi Evian Championship, the fourth major of the LPGA Tour season, tees off Thursday (local time) at Evian Resort Golf Club (par 72, 6,693 yards) in Évian-les-Bains, France, with a purse of $9.1 million over four days.

The outcome will hinge on how players manage the severe slope lies unique to the Alpine course and the unpredictable winds sweeping in off Lake Geneva. Last year's edition produced a gripping battle between Australian-Korean Grace Kim and Thailand's Jeeno Thitikul.

The central storyline this week is world No. 1 Nelly Korda of the United States against the Korean contingent led by Yu Hae-ran and Kim Hyo-joo. Korda swept the first two majors of the year — the Chevron Championship and the US Women's Open — back to back, but Yu halted her run two weeks ago by claiming her first major title at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship.

Korda enters as a heavy favorite, yet she has never won this event in eight appearances, with a tie for eighth as her best finish. The mountain course carved into the Alpine foothills has consistently blunted her game. Accustomed to flatter layouts, she faces considerable mental pressure on a track that demands precise shot control at every turn.

The terrain suits Korean players well. South Korea has won this event five times — Shin Ji-yae in 2010 and Park In-bee in 2012 before the tournament gained major status, then Kim Hyo-joo in 2014, Jeon In-ji in 2016 and Ko Jin-young in 2019 after the upgrade. The roll call of past champions suggests that precise iron play and putting ability matter more here than raw distance.

Yu Hae-ran is the most closely watched Korean player in the field. She won the KPMG Women's PGA Championship, the season's third major, which concluded June 29, starting the opening round in a tie for 70th before staging a remarkable comeback over the remaining rounds. Her sharp iron game gives her a natural edge on a narrow, steeply contoured course, and with her consistency and confidence now at a peak, a back-to-back major is well within reach.

Kim Hyo-joo is chasing a title here for the first time in 12 years. She arrives in form after a come-from-behind victory at last week's Lotte Open, and the course's mountainous terrain — with its tricky green illusions and tight fairways — is tailor-made for her trademark pinpoint iron play and deft putting.

Yoon I-na, who finished runner-up at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship two weeks ago, is another name to watch. In her second year on the LPGA Tour, she appears fully settled and is playing her own game — noticeably cutting down on double bogeys and worse compared with last year. If she can keep her fairway-hit rate steady this week, she could emerge as a serious dark-horse contender.