Matt Cooper previews the Amundi Evian Championship, where a bang in-form and course-proven Linn Grant heads the staking plan.
Golf betting tips: The Evian Championship
1pt e.w. Linn Grant at 33/1 (Unibet, BetUK 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6)
1pt e.w. Allisen Corpuz at 40/1 (BetVictor, Betfred 1/4 1,2,3,4,5)
1pt e.w. Lydia Ko at 50/1 (Unibet, BetUK 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6)
1pt e.w. In Gee Chun at 80/1 (Ladbrokes, Coral, Unibet 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6)
1pt e.w. Ayaka Furue at 28/1 (Unibet, BetUK 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6)
These are dizzying times for major championship golf. On Monday morning the Guardian’s golf correspondent Ewan Murray reminded us that the four men’s majors are now squeezed into a 16-week spell. It seems bizarre that a sport which manages to stage events 49 weeks of the year also contrives a yawning chasm of 260 days between the presentation of Claret Jug and green jacket. It’s like a long distance runner with absolutely no concept of pacing himself.
Incredibly, the women’s game is even more scatter-brained because this week’s Evian Championship is the third of four majors in an eight-week period. One a fortnight! It’s not so long ago that perfectly normal folk were having a bath at that kind of tempo.
It could be reasonably argued that the women’s game having five rather than four majors somewhat demands a crammed summer schedule but that thorny business has been discussed in this column in the past. It’s not going to change.
And so to the action at the Amundi Evian Championship itself, a tournament which may now have two sponsors or it may be that the tournament is hinting that it’s a championship in the spa town of Evian rather than an event sponsored by the bottled water people. And that might be an attempt at pretending the fifth major hasn’t really been bought by a corporation. But hang on, I wasn’t going to blabber on about that.
The Evian Resort GC is a funny spot. It’s a hilly test with lots of awkward, fiddly holes. It tests patience and when the Olympics further crowded the schedule in 2021 some players used it as an excuse to miss this event. Stacy Lewis didn’t even bother to fib. She’s been back once (in 2019) since 2016 and admits she doesn’t like it (and she’s twice finished second there!).
The top of the market is interesting because there is no Ko (Jin Young), Ko (Lydia) or Korda (Nelly) at the top. It’s not the very first time that has happened in recent years but it’s been a rarity. The trio is out of form and Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim is favourite. She won this event on her major debut in 2014 and has been second and third on the course since, but she’s also not won a major in 29 starts or any event since April last year.
Second favourite is China’s Xiyu Lin who is in fine form (four top-four finishes in six strokeplay starts) but she has a best of T29 in seven visits to the course.
Kim has an obvious chance but the price doesn’t appeal and headline pick is the Swede LINN GRANT who arrives off a win in both her last start and her last course appearance.
The first of those came two weeks ago in the Dana Open when she carded 64-69-62-68, displaying the kind of bold scoring and front running that saw her win last year’s Scandinavian Mixed up against the men of the DP World Tour. The victory was her first on the LPGA and that third-round effort, which briefly threatened to be a 59, opened up a six-shot lead.
Back in May she won an LET event in Evian carding 68-67-69. There’s absolutely no doubt that the field is much, much, much stronger this week but she was also eighth in this tournament 12 months ago. Can she win back-to-back? Why not – she did it when winning that mixed event last June.
Then there are the things she has said. After last year’s eighth she said: “I love the course. It’s beautiful and you can score really well but it’s also difficult if you’re having a bad day. I think it’s a good golf course and just to be in Evian is really nice.”
And when asked about her return to Evian after the win two weeks ago she said: “I feel like I’m in great form at the moment. I really like that golf course. I played well there last year and I had a win there this year. I’m really excited to go back.”
It feels somewhat surprising that she can be backed above 25/1.
Second pick is straightforward. In the first three majors of the year ALLISEN CORPUZ has finished fourth in the Chevron Championship, T15 in the KPMG PGA Championship and won the US Open. She then added second behind Grant in the Dana Open.
Should she really have so many golfers in front of her in the betting at 33/1? I’m not sure she should having come such a long way since last year's debut missed cut here, which came during a run of MC-MC-56-MC.
Let’s add a punt on LYDIA KO. True, her form has not been great since winning the Saudi International in February but was there a hint of something in her opening rounds of 65-67 two weeks ago which had her four back of the lead at halfway?
The doubters would say, “No, she closed 72-78 for T65 and hasn’t won a major since 2016.” I’m arguing that it’s worth considering that she’s a class act (a two-time major winner and world number one as recently as last year) who might bounce back to form when still at an inflated price.
If she’s to break the duck it might well be at a course she likes such as this one. The first time she contended in a major was at Evian when the low amateur in 2013. She was eighth a year later, won her first major (by six shots) there in 2015, was one shot outside a play-off in 2017, sixth in 2021 and two blows short of extra holes last year.
Utilising a similar strategy, include IN GEE CHUN. She was seventh at halfway in the US Open before falling back to T27. Having missed only two cuts in 22 starts, she just needs a spark and there are two reasons to think this week can provide it.
First up, she likes majors. Her only top-10s in that run of 22 events came with victory in the KPMG PGA Championship and play-off defeat in the AIG Women’s Open. In all, she has three wins in 42 starts.
Then there is the course, which she also likes. She won wire-to-wire in 2016 and has not missed a cut since, adding another four top-25s. She was sixth in 2021 and six of her last eight laps there have been sub-69. All these things considered 80/1 is more than fair.
Finally, Japan’s AYAKA FURUE has taken to Evian in her first two visits. On debut in 2021 she carded an opening 66 to sit one back of the lead and last year signed for a first round 63 to lead by one.
Two years ago she said she had “positive vibes from the golf course” and pushed on for fourth place. Last year she slipped back to T19 but did say after the opener: “The yardage suits me and I like the course, it’s good for my game. After last year I thought I would play good, and I did.”
A week after that fast start she won the Scottish Open and she also won back home in Japan in October. On the LPGA she has six top-four finishes in her last 20 starts and has been eighth and sixth in her last two starts – both of them majors.
Posted at 1005 BST on 25/07/23
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