EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France — If the first three majors of the 2024 LPGA Tour season have been any indication, the 30th edition of The Amundi Evian Championship is sure to see some shock and drama this week at Evian Resort Golf Club. The 132-played field is chock full of some of the world’s most talented athletes, and everyone competing this week will be eying their share of the $8 million prize fund that’s up for grabs as well as 650 always-critical points in the Race to the CME Globe.
Here are just a few players to keep your eye on this week at The Amundi Evian Championship:
Japan’s Nasa Hataoka hasn’t won on the LPGA Tour since the 2022 DIO Implant LA Open, but it’s not for lack of trying. The six-time Tour winner has collected 16 top-10 results since picking up that victory at Wilshire Country Club, one of which came at Evian Resort Golf Club last year when Hataoka tied for third after posting a four-round total of 7-under. It was the third time that the 25-year-old had finished T16 or better at The Amundi Evian Championship, as Hataoka tied for 16th in her tournament debut in 2018 and then tied for 15th in 2022 after missing the cut at the major championship in 2019.
While her top-10 count might be a bit lower in 2024 than what fans are typically used to seeing from Hataoka, she has still managed to earn four other top-15 results this year, all of which came in four consecutive starts at The Chevron Championship (T13), JM Eagle LA Championship presented by Plastpro (T13 ), Cognizant Founders Cup (T12) and Mizuho Americas Open (T14).
That consistency has also shown itself in Hataoka’s stats this year. According to KPMG Performance Insights, she is gaining shots on the field in all but the strokes gained putting category, most notably ranking 13th in strokes gained tee to green (+1.17) and 14th in strokes gained approach (+0.82). She is also third on the LPGA Tour this year in rounds under par, carding 27 rounds of par or better across the 15 tournaments in which she has teed it up in 2024.
Charley Hull hasn’t finished worse than T23 in a major championship since missing the cut at last year’s Amundi Evian Championship, and while she didn’t play the weekend in 2023, that doesn’t mean Hull cannot contend at Evian Resort Golf Club. The 2022 edition of the major championship saw Hull post a 72-hole total of 15-under with all four rounds in the 60s and ultimately finish in a tie for third in her ninth Amundi Evian Championship appearance. She also has two other top-25 results at this event, tying for 22nd in 2018 and tying for 25th in 2021.
Hull has fared well on the LPGA Tour this season, earning six top-20 finishes, two of which were at major championships. She kicked off the year with a tie for seventh at the season-opening Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions and then tied for 10th at the FIR HILLS SERI PAK Championship. The 28-year-old tied for 13th at the JM Eagle LA Championship presented by Plastpro and has collected two more top 20s in the last two major championships, tying for 19th at the U.S. Women’s Open presented by Ally and then tying for 16th at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship a few weeks ago in Sammamish, Wash.
According to KPMG Performance Insights, the six-time Solheim Cup participant is third on Tour in strokes gained driving (+0.75), seventh in strokes gained tee to green (+1.30) and 17th in strokes gained total (+1.19). Hull also ranks ninth on Tour in greens in regulation, finding the dance floor 71.72 percent of the time with her approach shots.
Atthaya Thitikul comes to The Amundi Evian Championship with plenty of confidence after capturing her third career LPGA Tour title alongside her playing partner Ruoning Yin at the Dow Championship just a couple of weeks ago. The Thailand native joined forces with the Chinese major champion to form Team Jin & Ronic, who posted a four-day total of 22-under at Midland Country Club to win by one shot over Ally Ewing and Jennifer Kupcho.
The victory was Thitikul’s first on the LPGA Tour since she won her second title as a rookie at the 2022 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G after outlasting Danielle Kang in a playoff. Along with that win, Thitikul has earned five other top-15 finishes in just eight starts this season, two of which came at major championships, as the 21-year-old finished 12th at The Chevron Championship in her first tournament back after rehabbing a thumb injury and then tied for sixth at the U.S. Women’s Open presented by Ally last month.
She has played in The Amundi Evian Championship on four other occasions, and after finishing T64 in her tournament debut in 2017, Thitikul hasn’t found herself outside the top 10 at Evian Resort Golf Club. She finished solo fifth in 2021 after posting a four-day total of 14-under and then followed up that performance with a T8 showing in 2022, ultimately finishing in a tie for ninth in 2023.
Statistically, Thitikul is gaining shots in every major strokes gained category on the LPGA Tour this season, most notably ranking third in strokes gained total (+1.84) and 12th in strokes gained tee to green (+1.20), according to KPMG Performance Insights. She is also fourth in greens in regulation (72.67%) and sixth in scoring average (70.64).
While Morgane Metraux has yet to win on the LPGA Tour, the 27-year-old does have two wins on the Ladies European Tour, one of which came earlier this season at the Jabra Ladies Open. The Jabra Ladies Open has been held at Evian Resort Golf Club in Evian-les-Bains, France since its inception in 2017, a venue that is also home of this week’s Amundi Evian Championship. Metraux won by three shots over Agathe Sauzon and Chiara Tamburlini that week, posting a three-day total of 10-under at Evian Resort Golf Club. Considering she hails from Lausanne, Switzerland, a town located just a ferry ride across Lac Leman from Evian-les-Bains, her victory was quite popular with the French locals.
Metraux has made 11 starts on the LPGA Tour this year, and after missing the cut in her first six events of the 2024 season, the Epson Tour graduate has righted the ship, making four cuts in her last five starts and earning a season-best result of solo fifth at the ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by Acer, her second-best career result on the LPGA Tour. This week marks her fourth start in the Amundi Evian Championship, and in her three previous appearances, Metraux has earned a tournament-best result of T16 in the 2023 edition of the event.
