Evian: from Masters to major

The story behind the championship

Evian's history begins before it became a major. The tournament started in 1994 as the Evian Masters, joined the LPGA schedule in 2000 and became the women's fifth major in 2013. Those three stages explain why a list of all Evian champions is longer than a list of its major winners. The earlier titles remain part of the same tournament's history, but their status should be described as it was at the time.

For a golf traveller, there is another distinction from Britain's travelling championships. Evian's story is tied to a single resort above Lake Geneva, rather than to a rota of distant hosts. The course and the championship have developed together. That continuity makes the place especially rewarding to explore, while also making it important not to assume that a modern hole played exactly as it did during an early Evian Masters.

The Evian Masters begins

The organiser dates the tournament's foundation to 1994 and identifies Helen Alfredsson as its first champion. Laura Davies won the next two editions, followed by Hiromi Kobayashi in 1997, Alfredsson again in 1998 and Catrin Nilsmark in 1999. The opening sequence established a substantial competitive record before the LPGA became involved.

Those years need their own place in the champions table. Starting the record in 2000 would mistake LPGA recognition for the tournament's creation, while beginning in 2013 would lose nearly two decades of history. Conversely, calling every winner a major champion at Evian would give the earlier results a status they did not carry. The straightforward solution is to show all years and mark the changes in sanctioning and major status clearly. Official event history and early roll.

Joining the LPGA in 2000

Annika Sörenstam won the 2000 edition, the first after the tournament became part of the LPGA schedule. The tour's own retrospective recalls her victory over Karrie Webb in a play-off. It is an appropriate marker for the new stage: two players with substantial international careers contesting the championship at extra holes.

The tournament remained the Evian Masters during this period. Joining the LPGA did not immediately make it a major, and historical names should not obscure that difference. A reader comparing player biographies can otherwise encounter apparently contradictory totals. One account may count all Evian titles, another LPGA wins and another major victories. Each can be accurate if its category is explained. The champions list supplies the common chronological record against which those descriptions can be checked. LPGA retrospective; official LPGA winner archive.

Champions before major status

The LPGA-era Masters record includes Rachel Hetherington, Sörenstam, Juli Inkster, Wendy Doolan, Paula Creamer, Karrie Webb, Natalie Gulbis, Alfredsson, Ai Miyazato, Jiyai Shin and Inbee Park. It is a roll that gives the pre-major event its own sporting weight. It does not need to borrow the later designation to demonstrate the quality of its winners.

Alfredsson's 2008 victory was her third at Evian, following 1994 and 1998. Davies, Sörenstam and Miyazato also won more than once across the Masters years. Those repeated successes differ from the sequence of individual winners that followed the major transition. They offer an interesting way to read the table: the same course can reward repeat champions in one period, then produce a succession of new names in another. The historical record establishes the pattern without proving a single cause for it. Official LPGA archive; independent complete list.

The fifth major in 2013

The 2013 championship introduced major status and the Evian Championship name. Suzann Pettersen won, with amateur Lydia Ko runner-up. The weather-shortened competition was played over 54 holes, so the winning aggregate needs a clear label. Pettersen's official LPGA total is 203, not a four-round score that can be compared directly with a standard 72-hole winning total.

One retrospective event-history paragraph gives a conflicting aggregate of 274. The LPGA result archive, contemporary tour material about the shortened event and independent results support 203. The result is therefore taken from the official scoring record, with the conflicting summary acknowledged. This is an example of why even official historical prose needs to be checked against actual results, particularly when an event has been shortened. LPGA contemporary tournament notes; official winner's-circle account.

Hyo Joo Kim's 61 in 2014

Hyo Joo Kim began the 2014 championship with a 61, a score that made immediate major-championship history. She still had to complete the tournament, and the final contest with Karrie Webb showed why one extraordinary round does not settle a four-day event. Kim birdied the last to win by a stroke.

For a visitor looking at the course today, the score gives the landscape a specific historical association. It should not be presented as an unqualified record for all time: later performances can supersede it, and the categories of course record, championship record and major record are different. The accurate description is what it represented in 2014 and how it contributed to that year's victory. Her final total of 273 is recorded separately from the opening-round achievement. LPGA statistical review; official final results.

Lydia Ko's first major

Ko returned to Evian and won in 2015, closing with 63 to finish six strokes clear of Lexi Thompson. At 18 years, four months and 20 days, she became the youngest winner of an LPGA major. The tour's winner's-circle record gives that age precisely; the useful historical point is the achievement, rather than a vague description of a teenage prodigy fulfilling an assumed destiny.

Her earlier runner-up finish and later victory show two stages in the same player's relationship with the championship. They also connect Evian to the larger story of elite amateur golf: a player can compete for a major before turning professional, then return with a different status. Results should identify the status relevant to each edition. An amateur appearance is not a lesser version of a professional result; it is a different part of the record. Official Ko victory record; independent contemporary report.

In Gee Chun and the 2016 scoring mark

In Gee Chun won in 2016 with a four-round total of 263, 21 under par. At the time, that set a major-championship scoring record in relation to par across the men's and women's game. The qualification matters: an aggregate and a score relative to par describe different measures, and records need the conditions attached to them.

The victory was achieved by controlling the tournament, rather than by emerging from a last-hole play-off. Evian's history contains both kinds of success. A table of winners can show the totals, but a historical account should explain why a particular score mattered. Chun's result remains a landmark in the championship's development even as the wider game's record books continue to change. Avoid treating an announcement made in 2016 as proof that the same record still stands in every category today. LPGA final-round notes; independent account.

Weather and Nordqvist in 2017

Weather again altered the championship in 2017. The LPGA reduced it to 54 holes and published an explanation of the decision. Anna Nordqvist won after a play-off with Brittany Altomare, with both having finished on 204. A complete results list should mark the shortened championship rather than allowing that aggregate to look like an unusually low four-round total.

This is more than a statistical footnote. The number of rounds affects how a tournament unfolds and how its scores should be compared. It does not change the identity of the recognised champion. For spectators, it also offers a historical reminder that weather can alter timings and arrangements. The current event guide is the place for practical contingencies; the historical account establishes what the organisers decided in that particular year. Official reduction announcement; official final report.

Stanford's breakthrough and the missing 2020 edition

Angela Stanford won her first major at Evian in 2018, in her 76th major start. Amy Olson's double bogey at the last left Stanford the winner by a stroke. The result illustrates why the target posted by a player already in the clubhouse can remain central to the final minutes of a championship. The trophy is awarded from the completed scores, not from who appears to have control with one hole remaining.

Jin Young Ko won in 2019, but there was no championship in 2020. The cancellation was linked to the COVID-19 travel and quarantine restrictions, rather than to an on-course weather problem. That distinction belongs in the record. It explains why a complete year-by-year table needs a not-held entry instead of a missing row. LPGA retrospective; independent cancellation report.

Minjee Lee's seven-shot recovery

The championship returned in 2021 with another first-time major winner. Minjee Lee began the final round seven strokes behind Jeongeun Lee6, then reached a play-off and won. Both finished regulation play on 266. The seven-shot figure refers to Lee's deficit, not to a seven-stroke winning margin or to the overnight leader's advantage over the entire field.

That distinction is easy to lose in a compressed summary. It is also what makes the story valuable: different players started Sunday at different distances from the lead. A history should preserve the relationship between them rather than turn a comeback into an imprecise slogan. For visitors, it is another reason to follow the developing leaderboard as well as a favourite group. The eventual champion may begin the day well outside the final pairing. Official LPGA report; independent Australian account.

Henderson and Boutier

Brooke Henderson won in 2022 with a birdie at the final hole, finishing on 267, one stroke ahead of Sophia Schubert. The result restored her to the major winners' circle and gave Evian another finish centred on its closing hole. The following year, Céline Boutier won by six strokes, becoming the first French winner of the championship.

The contrast is instructive. A narrow last-hole victory and a comfortable final margin can both become defining championship memories, for different reasons. Henderson's result turned on completing the final hole successfully; Boutier's combined an emphatic performance with the significance of a home winner. Neither story should displace the other in an account of the tournament. Together they demonstrate how quickly Evian has accumulated a varied major history since 2013. Official Henderson report; official Boutier report.

Eagles and extra holes in 2024 and 2025

Ayaka Furue won in 2024 after an eagle at the last, finishing on 265. In 2025, Grace Kim also made an eagle at the closing hole in regulation, then went on to beat Jeeno Thitikul in a play-off. Kim's decisive eagle came on the second extra hole. The LPGA's final-round notes establish that sequence; an independent winner list which describes the first play-off hole as decisive is not followed on that detail.

These finishes give the 18th a central place in recent tournament history. They do not mean it always produces the same outcome or should be treated as a guaranteed birdie. The historical interest lies in what those players achieved under the conditions of their particular championships. A visitor can appreciate the setting more fully by knowing the exact sequence, rather than a simplified story in which all the eagles merge into one. Official Furue report; official 2025 final notes.

Ryu's championship in 2026

Haeran Ryu won the latest completed edition in 2026, defeating Henderson in a one-hole play-off after both reached 265. Ryu's third-round 60 set an LPGA major record. That performance supplies the later context needed when discussing Kim's historic 61 from 2014: a record can be a landmark without remaining unbeaten indefinitely.

The final still required another day's golf. Ryu followed the 60 with an even-par 71 and then won the extra hole. Henderson's challenge kept the outcome open, demonstrating again that a record round and a championship victory are separate achievements, even when the same golfer ultimately claims both. The official winner archive, the contemporary report and the wider championship record should be read together. Official record-round report; official final report.

Connect the story with a visit

Read the Evian venue guide for the course and the event hub for the current championship arrangements, then compare accommodation bases around Évian-les-Bains. Staying nearby makes it easier to combine tournament golf with time in the lakeside town, but actual transport, entrances and admission conditions need checking for the edition you plan to attend. Historical course names and old schedules explain the past; they should never be substituted for a current travel plan.

Evian Masters champions, 1994–1999

Evian champions and totals, 2000–2026

The shortened 2013 championship

The inaugural major edition in 2013 was reduced to 54 holes. Suzann Pettersen’s winning total was 203, as listed by the LPGA. A later Evian history paragraph prints 274; the LPGA championship result is used here.

Sources and useful official links

• Confirmed: Official event history and early roll
• Confirmed: LPGA retrospective
• Confirmed: Official LPGA archive
• Reported: independent complete list
• Confirmed: LPGA contemporary tournament notes
• Confirmed: official winner's-circle account
• Confirmed: LPGA statistical review
• Confirmed: official final results
• Confirmed: Official Ko victory record
• Reported: independent contemporary report
• Confirmed: LPGA final-round notes
• Reported: independent account
• Confirmed: Official reduction announcement
• Confirmed: official final report
• Confirmed: LPGA retrospective
• Reported: independent cancellation report
• Confirmed: Official LPGA report
• Confirmed: independent Australian account
• Confirmed: Official Henderson report
• Confirmed: official Boutier report
• Confirmed: Official Furue report
• Confirmed: official 2025 final notes
• Confirmed: Official record-round report
• Confirmed: official final report
• Confirmed: Championship winners
• Confirmed: Championship winners
• Reported: Championship winners

Useful reading for your visit

• Evian Championship 2027
• Where to stay for the Evian Championship
• Golf history, where it happened

Visit today

• Evian Resort Golf Club visitor guide
• Evian Championship 2027
• Where to stay for the Evian Championship

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