The Amundi Evian Championship welcomes 126 players to the first European Major of the 2021 season.
The young talent from the Ladies European Tour (LET) will tee it up with a number of them experiencing a Major championship for the first time.
The 2021 Race to Costa del Sol leader, 18-year-old Atthaya Thitikul, will be featuring in her fifth Major and second Evian Championship of her career this week.
The Thai talent earned her first LET victory outside of her home country at the Tipsport Czech Ladies Open in June and has added a further four top-10 finishes this season alone.
“This is the first time I have played in a major tournament as a professional, so I am really looking forward to be playing here. And whatever happens this week, my expectation is to learn from it as much as I can,” she said.
The young star finished tied for sixth at the Jabra Ladies Open earlier this year and also has positive memories from her first Evian Championship in 2017.
Thitikul continued: “I remember only four players made a birdie on the last hole on the second day and I had to birdie the 18th to make the cut. I made the birdie and made the cut at only 14-years-old. I have only good memories for this tournament.”
Slovenia’s Pia Babnik comes back to Evian-les-Bains for her first ever Major start but is no stranger to the golf course. The youngest LET member won her maiden Tour title earlier this year at the Jabra Ladies Open – which was also played at the Evian Resort Golf Club – giving her a certain advantage to the rest of the field.
“It is amazing to be back here. The venue is a lot different because it is a bigger tournament, but I feel good especially because I won here earlier this year. All the good memories popped up when I got here,” Babnik said.
The 17-year-old professional is looking forward to taking in the experience of playing her first major and alongside the world’s best female golfers.
She added: “It feels amazing to play my first major tournament, I will try to enjoy it as much as I can. This is also the first time playing with the best players in the world and I cannot wait to see where I am compared to them and what I can improve.”
The 2020 LET Rookie of the Year Stephanie Kyriacou turned professional following her win at the Ladies Classic in Bonville last February and will tee off for the first time at The Amundi Evian Championship. This will be her second Major tournament appearance after playing the 2020 AIG Women’s Open.
“I am pretty excited for this week. I played this course at the Jabra Ladies Open which helps even though they have set it up a little bit harder,” said the 20-year-old Australian. “Last year in the major I made it such a big deal but then I figured it is just another four rounds of golf, so I got a lot of experience from that.”
With this fearless young trio ready to pit their wits against the world’s best this weekend, The Amundi Evian Championship looks set to be fiercely contested from the first shot until the last.
