Golf betting tips: Evian Championship preview and best bets

Golf betting tips: Evian Championship

1.5pts e.w. Somi Lee at 30/1 (Ladbrokes, Coral 1/4 1,2,3,4,5)

1pt e.w. Esther Henseleit at 45/1 (General 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6)

1pt e.w. Helen Briem at 55/1 (Ladbrokes, Coral 1/4 1,2,3,4,5)

1pt e.w. Gaby Lopez at 140/1 (bet365 1/4 1,2,3,4,5)

Sky Bet odds | Paddy Power | Betfair Sportsbook

The Evian Championship, and the town of Evian itself, has always intrigued me. When, this time last year, I was able to satisfy my curiosity, the pair were everything I expected and more. I spent the evening of my arrival sipping white wine on the shores of Lake Leman with the casino behind me and the Alps in the far distance.

Further evenings were spent at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, at gala dinners, firework displays, a music festival, and people watching in the bars that surround the town’s small squares. Everything about the experience was delightful and yet, of course, the venue is famed for driving some golfers dotty.

Seeing it for yourself is a little eye-opening. The range, for example, requires a commute to the edge of town. Then there’s the course that is utterly beautiful yet feels a lot like a golfing version of hammering square pegs into round holes. The second green sits in a tiny piece of land on the other side of a road from the rest of the course.

Stacy Lewis never thought much of the place and was even less impressed when it was granted major championship status.

The relevance of all this is that it is essential that golfers embrace the scenery, soak up the vibes, and yet remain absolutely phlegmatic on the course.

Last year’s final round took a little while to ignite, but when it finally did Japan’s Ayaka Furue provided early fireworks on Bastille Day. She trailed the leader, Lauren Coughlin by three shots as she walked to the par-three 14th but drained a 50-foot putt there, another at the par-five 15th, knocked her tee shot at the par-three 16th to six feet, and polished that off as well.

It was a sensational hat-trick of blows that left Coughlin dazed and Furue was not yet done. Her approach to the final green barely cleared the water hazard short of the putting surface, but skipped to 15 feet and she holed the eagle putt to complete the final five holes in a dazzling five-under to clinch the victory.

I had jokingly wondered if the presence of the Olympic Museum on the horizon (quite literally in the sense that it was the other side of the lake) would provide inspiration for those heading to Paris a few weeks later. It was a case of hitting all the right notes but not necessarily in the right order because Furue, hurt having been overlooked for Team Japan, said after her triumph: “I might have missed out on the Olympics but I have won in France and that makes me very happy.”

I was travelling again last week, this time in Munich at the BMW International Open, where I got chatting to Germany’s ESTHER HENSELEIT about what she called “my super summer” this time last year.

It started with seventh place in this event and a month later she carded a final-round 66 to claim the silver medal at the Paris Olympics. She was second again next time out in the Scottish Open and briefly contended after a slow start (77 for T99) in the Women’s British Open (the effort of getting back in the mix took a toll).

The excitement of the Olympic experience has not dimmed. With a broad smile, she told stories of being recognised in her home country for the first time, and of the fun and games to be had taking an Olympic medal through airport security.

That seventh place last year was a first top 10 at Evian but far from her first decent effort there. She was T12 there in a minor LET event early in her pro career, T27 in this championship in 2022, and T14 in 2023. Her last three final rounds there have been 66-67-68. Moreover, before I had actively mentioned Evian, she said she couldn’t wait to get back there because she loves it.

She's ticked along nicely in recent months, recording seven top-30s in a row including a second and third in regular LPGA starts, T18 in the Chevron Championship, T22 in the US Women’s Open and T12 in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

Form, course form, major form, and a liking for both Evian vibes and the course – that’ll do for starters.

Minjee Lee is tempting but last month’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship was frustrating after I highlighted that she had a great chance. She’d been pencilled in when early quotes of 28/1 came out, but when she slipped below 20/1 I wasn’t keen. She then played wonderfully to polish off a third major championship win by three strokes.

She has a fine Evian record but it’s difficult to win two majors in a row. I’m happy to swerve Nelly Korda on this course, but for once Jeeno Thitikul appeals because hitting greens matters on this tricky test, she hits lots of them and has done so on the course itself. But her problems saving par when she does miss the putting surfaces at Evian puts me off her at the price.

I prefer to add the in-form SOMI LEE.

A five-time winner on the Korean LPGA, she won an LPGA Tour card for the 2024 season and spent most of it coming to terms with the new challenge. But T17 in this event and T23 in the Women’s British Open were among her better results and she’s added T24 in the Chevron Championship and eighth in the KPMG PGA Championship this year.

The latter result was the most recent in a run of five top-12 finishes in six individual starts and last time out she won the Dow Championship pairs event with Jin Hee Im. She’s hit a lot of greens in that run and ranked third for that category when T17 at Evian last year.

Lottie Woad is an understandably much shorter price this week than would have been expected a few days ago. That’s what winning an LET event by six shots as an amateur will do. She’s a fine prospect but I’m not sure this is a good fit for her.

Nor is she the only fine young European talent and another German, HELEN BRIEM, stands tall (literally – she’s 6’3”) among them. The 19-year-old was ranked world number one in the amateur game last year and she won three second tier LETAS events in a row before turning pro.

As as soon as she joined the pro ranks she won the Rose Ladies Open, also on the second tier, and then added the LET’s La Sella Open (on another course with notably fiddly elements).

The start of this season was a little trickier for her, but she was fifth at Evian in May’s Jabra Open and since then has been second in the Tenerife Open, fourth in the Hulencourt Open and second last time out in the German Open.

The LET is at least a level below the LPGA but in Briem’s 17 LET starts she has ranked top 10 for GIR 15 times and top three eight times (including in four of her last five starts).

Finally, Mexico’s GABY LOPEZ has a solid course record since she missed the cut on debut at Evian in 2016. Since then she is 6-for-6 at making the weekend.

She was third in 2023 when she said that she’d been “working hard at staying calm an enjoying the moment.” She added: “A good shot can get a shitty bounce so you’ve got to be patient and accepting.”

Lopez rode that wave into the first round last year when she carded a 65 to be one shot off the lead and she said: “I was proud how I faced adversity. I’ve learned to get my way round this golf course. I’m committing to the shots.”

If all that sounds a nice match for Evian, I’m going to add a different potential prompt in that she left the event 12 months ago furious at being fingered for slow play when the cause was a playing partner.

A bit of niggle among the Zen will do no harm and she had a hot flat-stick last time out in the KPMG (she was performing well before and during her top three at Evian two years ago).

Posted at 1300 BST on 08/07/25

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