Grace Kim is back at Evian Resort Golf Club where she secured her maiden Major victory at the 2025 Amundi Evian Championship.
The Australian made headlines around the world last year after defeating Jeeno Thitikul in a two-hole playoff.
Heading back to the course where she won her first Major title, the two-time LPGA Tour winner is excited to be back in France for the fourth Major of the year.
“Driving in made me think of all the memories that were created last year and obviously they’re all great memories, so it is really nice to be back here in Evian,” she said.
“It’s quite warm this week, which is nice as well. It felt weird in a way I guess, but in a good way. Playing the golf course yesterday I have seen the whole course now. There are some differences on the golf course, especially 18, so we’ll see how this works, but it definitely makes the holes trickier than it already was.”
There have been a few changes to the course for 2026 with the addition of bunkers on 18 and extending the green on the par-3 fifth hole.
Kim admits the changes, especially on 18, have made the course a bit trickier and means it will be a tougher test.
She continued: “The bunkers on 18 make the fairway a lot tighter than it was last year on 18, but obviously you try to aim for the left for the ball to come back to the middle as the fairway slopes that way.
“Off the tee I don’t think it changes too much, but if you end up in the fairway bunker, it just forces you to lay-up. You can’t slack the lay-up either because of the additional bunker on the left, so just making sure you’re switched on throughout the whole hole.”
After chipping-in during the first hole of the playoff in 2025, Evian Resort Golf Club commemorated the moment with a plaque on the nearby tree.
Kim saw the plaque for the first time this week and was pleased that moment has been getting so much attention.
A group of Ladies European Tour (LET) Australian players tried to replicate the chip at the Jabra Ladies Open de France held here in May
She added: “I saw it [the plaque] for the first time yesterday and it was really cool. Hearing those people that come to play Evian and trying it out themselves makes me feel nice about it. It is a very cool thing for Evian Resort to put up for it, so I’m really grateful for it. It makes me feel like a bit of legendary moment, so I’m really grateful for that.
“I saw the whole video. It happened to be one of my best mates, Steph Bunque, that made it, and she even said in the celebration that she celebrated harder than I ever did, so that was really cool. It is a cool feeling seeing all the girls that I grew up playing golf with be in that position where they can just chip this chip for me.
“It’s weird to put it into words. We’re all the same golfer as we were when we were juniors, just everyone is in different stages. That just shows how golf can put you in different parts of the world but we’re all kind of one still. I’m really grateful for that video and I’m hoping to see them all in the same field soon.”
Kim will begin her title defence at 12.48 pm (local time) alongside 2024 champion Ayake Furue and 2023 champion Celine Boutier on Thursday July 8.
Keep up with all the action on our socials – @LETgolf on Instagram and X and Ladies European Tour on Facebook and YouTube – #EvianChamp.
