Bonus Episode | Amundi Evian Championship Preview

Bonus Episode | Amundi Evian Championship Preview

All [Music] right, what is up everybody and bonjour and I can’t think of anything more fitting, a better way to start the podcast because it is officially time for the fourth major of the year, the Ammundi Evian Championship. I cannot believe we are already at the fourth major of the year, but we’ll we’ll get into that. We’ve had a lot of season already. It’s been a great year and I cannot wait to talk about it with my wonderful co-hosts Adam Stanley and Emma Thally. Guys, how is it going? And can y’all believe that it is the fourth major of the year? Adam, kick us off. Hope that French attempt was was sure something to start the podcast with. The elongated Give me your bonjour. Give it to me. Okay. Well, you’re Canadian, so I took French all through high school, but I’ve long forgotten most of it except for that particular line, which I can still bust out on occasions like this. But you are right. Uh, we are recording this and it’s the day after Canada Day. So, thank you for, you know, you know, at least giving my beloved country a shout out. And your beloved country gets its own day in a in a couple of days as we are recording this particular pod. But you are right. Even though, you know, it is that July time, the middle of the calendar year, uh it’s hard to believe that it’s the fourth major of the season. And it is kind of hard to believe, too, that there’s still two majors to go. And of course, there’s Crown. And of course, there’s the uh season finale with the big money prize at the end of it all. So, uh there’s still very much to come on the LPGA tour, which is great. Yes. Um, well, really quick, the only really the thing like the main thing I know how to say in French is no fromage, which means no cheese cuz I’m lactose intolerant. No. And then I’ll say no fromage. So, everyone note that downage if you could say, “Oh, really? A French guy told me say no fromage.” So, that’s what I I said. Yeah. Because he knew you were from Texas. He’s just saying no. No. No from it’s positive. You’re American. Just say no. All right. Good to know. Good to know. Emma, you’ve been to the Amundi Evian Championship many of times. Can you believe we’re already here in the year of 2020? I know. It’s such a fun one. Why? How is it July already? I mean, that is the craziest part of the whole episode. The year has flown by. Um I’m so jealous. Like, these are the weeks that I’m like, h, I want to be on tour so bad. Um, Evian’s just so good. Everyone’s kind of walking the streets after the round, so you see each other by the lake or you see each other in town getting dinner. The gelato is amazing. Your girl Brooke loves every day. Um, I’ll get into that later, but yeah, she’s she loves it and everyone does. It’s just like the best. It’s one of my favorite weeks just because we’re all hanging out. It’s absolutely stunning. Most of the time a lot of us take the ferry over. Um, it’s just beautiful. So very jealous and excited to see what happens this upcoming. Emma, have you ever gone Have you gone swimming in the lake? Have you gone for a dip in there? I’ll be honest. I have and I I regret it now. I guess you’ll just have to come back, Emma. Um and yes, I have. It was freezing, but it felt really good cuz it’s it gets really hot there obviously like during the day. So to go for a dip like after like the long day out at the golf course. I feel like also like if I were to play, I would like that would be like the first thing I would want to do as I would walk off the golf course. Britney Henderson goes every to kind of Emma’s point, she basically goes every day after lugging the lugging the clubs up up the mountain because the golf course is on a mountain, right, Emma? Yes. Yeah, it is on a mountain. Absolutely on a mountain. Yeah. No, it’s beautiful and it’s a fun one because like Emma said, like you walk out into the town and you just see like 20 people, you know, like there’s no way to avoid anyone that week. Like if you’re going out to dinner, you’re going out to dinner with everybody. But it’s fun and I’m super excited. I leave in like a few days to go there. Like Adam said, we are recording this the week before, so we’re I’m not even overseas yet, but I’m ready to be, let me tell you. I love Europe, so I cannot wait. Um, but we this is an off week for the LPGA tour, which I think is very beneficial to LPGA players because they have an off week before they go over to a major. And the last week, the last tournament that we had was the DAO championship, a team event on the LPGA. It’s also a super fun week. And then before that, we had the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship was which is the last time y’all have heard from us. And the Dow Championship was just an incredible week. Somi Lee and Jinhi M won. It was like the playoff, the final day, everything about it. They, you know, pipped two M or two LPGA tour winners and Megan Kang and Lexi Thompson. I mean, are we surprised at all that those two came out victorious because personally, I am not. They’ve been trending all year. I am not surprised either. I am. It was so fun to watch. I totally agree. the just seeing even the who got paired together was really cool. Like I didn’t expect some of the pairings and then to see them interact with each other and then seeing Lexi and Megan. I mean that was just so cool. And um I really thought they were going to get it done. They played so well on the back and they were just killing it. Um I I’m not going to lie, I was nervous on that last putt though because dot dot dot but not going to say anything but dot dot dot. I was very nervous for them. Um, but it was so cool to see them as vets and Sohome Cup teammates just out there having fun. And I feel like you get to see a difference out of Lexi, which is really cool, too. Once again, we still do not have a repeat winner this season, which is insane. I just cannot believe that. Like, we have to be having one soon. Like, we have to like, are we going to go all year without a repeat winner? I just don’t understand how that’s even possible. But without further ado, let’s actually talk about the major championship at hand, the Amundi Evian Championship. It’s been around for quite a while since 1994, but it didn’t actually become a major until 2013. And that was under Mike Juan’s reign. And ever since then, it’s been so fun to go back to. And the purse has just been increasing every single year. So, we love to see it obviously with all the majors that’s been happening. So, that’s incredible. It’s nestled up against Lake Geneva, so it’s on the Switzerland border and it’s just Yeah, it’s just magical. I love it personally. Um, so Emma, you’ve you’ve played that tournament multiple times. I think it’s so it’s one of our two majors that we return to every year, Chevron being the other one. So, first question is, how does that help the veterans that have been there time and time again? and just kind of tell the people about the golf course that have maybe not been or maybe not tuned in to watch this event. Well, as Adam said earlier, it is on a mountain. Um, I would even call it possibly a cliff. So, um, it really is like every lie is sidehill lot because everything goes towards the lake. Um, so every shot that you have is is not flat. Like there’s no flat lies on the whole golf course. And I think as a vet going to play this tournament, you probably it’s probably a good and bad thing. You kind of it’s almost like you have um homec course advantage a little bit because there are a lot of like bounces that you know are just going to happen. You know that there are a few places you cannot miss it at all or you’re dead around the greens. Um you have to kind of know like on the weekends the greens get firmer. You kind of already know the pin positions. You kind of know that everything that’s going to happen and where they’re going to set everything up. However, there are a lot of demons out there. So, um you got to get past those because because it’s all sidehill lies. I personally believe that the players that play the best golf at Evian are the players that can hit it both ways. Usually, if you can hit a right and a fade and a draw and you like to move the ball around, be creative, those are the players that usually play well at this golf course because they’re not scared to kind of mess around, be creative, and let the ball move both ways. whereas like if you only hit it if you’re only comfortable hitting it one way too many times that’s just not going to on a sidehill lot it’s impossible to do that. So um there’s a couple people in my head that always play well here. Um Ryan Oul is one of those people. I didn’t pick her for my winners but she always plays well at this golf course and I think it’s cuz she can hit it both ways and she’s not scared to do it. For sure. Yeah. Adam, your your girl always plays well here too. Broo Henderson. Um, you know what, we Emma kind of already touched on it, but being able to see players come back time and time again, that has to be helpful just in your season like Brooke has to know most of the time coming to this course like I know this course. I know I play well and I love the crepes here. So like, you know, like how much does it help being comfortable and familiar at a tournament, especially at a major and I think we’ll get it more, you know, with the Chevron Championship as it uh, you know, kind of continues to stay in Texas. people would just be like, you know, we we know, right? And it’s kind of part of the reason why, you know, certainly on the men’s side, you know, Augusta National, you’re just not going to get uh a firsttime winner at Augusta National because there’s such a big learning curve that comes along with, you know, the greens and where to hit it. And Emma to kind of to your point about, you know, hitting it both ways, but finding the slopes and and you kind of just know uh how to how to directionally manage your way around, you know, that particular golf course. Um, you know, you look at the list of recent winners and I and I have them in front of me and we’re going to talk about Ayaka Foodway in a minute and she’s kind of the anomaly, right? She was 24 when she won last year. But, you know, you you kind of look at the list of names. Selene Budier won the year before, Brooke of course the year before that, Miy Lee the year before that, Jin Young Co the year before that, Angela Stanford, Anna Nordquist, Inji Chun, Lydia Co. So that’s the last kind of nine winners and I’m just saying them and you’re thinking like oh yeah like bang these are these are golfers who have been there who have done that who are um you know part of that top upper echelon of the sport and in terms of Angela Stanford of course obviously you know big Soulheim Cup been a part of that for a long time she was a super veteran you know she was 40 years old when she did it right so her first major exactly right right so hope all all that to say like, you know, you think about somebody who has been been around and kind of knows the tricks, the the the managing of, you know, the emotion and the the physical side of things as well. And and you’re just going to, you know, have somebody who who is a veteran, I think, kind of doing it again this year. And no matter who’s going to win, they’re going to be the most hydrated. This is the most hydrated field of anyone because doesn’t the Evon water just kind of like come out of the like the city taps or something like that as well. So there you go. Another reason to love it. It does. Yeah, it’s crazy. I honestly it’s so wild. I actually want to take a player to the fountain. There’s like a fountain that you can just like fill up. It’s just like full of Evian water. I’ve been there. Yeah. So I want to take a player this year and you know just kind of show like this town is so cool. There’s so many things to see. And honestly, it’s one of those where like if you want to come over to Europe to go to like a fun tournament, this would be one that I would definitely recommend just because it’s so different and there’s no other like there’s no big reason you’re going to go to like Evian, you know, just like to see it cuz you can see everything in like two days. So go to the golf, go see everything. There’s a bunch of good restaurants. Anyways, I’m a tour guide. I could give you all the recommendations, but we love Evian. Sounds sounds like next year this pod the podcast needs to be just a whole week long of daily pods from from Evian, you know. Visit visit destination Evian. Let’s go. We should all be heading over there. Yeah, exactly. They fly in a bunch of influencers every year. So y’all we’ll just add y’all to the list. We’re fine. My little influencer podcast co-hosts. Um, no, but Ayaka is defending like you mentioned Adam and like I guess she was an anomaly but like also wasn’t because she had just been playing so well like it wasn’t really a shock whenever she did win you know and she she hits a lot of fairways and that is something else to me I think is important at this course and so seeing her win it wasn’t a huge shock I mean she defeated Steph Kyaku, Patty Tabotanic, Lauren Coglin who was going on like a crazy run. Hater on you. Just a bunch of really good players. You always see a really good leaderboard at this tournament which makes it just an even better major. Um, and so something else I want to talk about actually something that’s new this year are the leap points. And we haven’t really talked about that, but basically it’s these amateur players that are most likely in college and how they perform in their career right now will eventually get them on to the LPGA or it could. And so right now leading those points is Lahi Wde. You’ve probably seen her name. She’s she’s so good and she’s so consistent. She plays at Florida State right now and she is very close. All she needs to do is get to 20 points and she is at 18 points right now. So if she finishes in the top 25, she will be offered her LPJ tour card. So as most of you probably know, she is the world number one amateur. And not only has she had an incredible college career at Florida State, but she also just won on the le literally last week in Ireland at the KPMG Women’s Irish Open. And she didn’t just win, she won by six strokes. And she actually defeated some of the best LPGA and L players including Maline Sagstrom, Charlie Hull, and multiple others. So, she is not actually taking LE membership right now just because she’s so close to getting her um LPGA card. So once she if she does get the full LEAP points, I have to imagine she would probably take membership with both tours because why not? But if she were to accept membership with the leap points qualifications would go away because she would have to turn pro. So, like I already said, if she finishes in the top 25 this week, then she will clinch her card. And her win at the KPMG Women’s Irish Open actually got her into the field next week in the Women’s Scottish. So, she has another chance. And she’s also in the field at the AIG Women’s Open. So, she has multiple chances coming up to earn her LPJ tour card. And after winning by six strokes last week, I wouldn’t even be surprised if she got a win. How crazy is that? Like, do you wish that’s something that they would have had back when you were in college? Absolutely. Um, but I will say that that it’s pretty impressive that she’s going to hit it. Uh, they kind of showed us how hard it was to get those points and I I believe that there were only like four or five girls on the LPJ currently that would have gotten that the card. Yeah. So, it’s not like it’s not like it’s as easy as what it seems like. Yeah. I mean, I won the USM and the national championship and I wouldn’t have gotten it. So, that kind of tells you like you’ve got to do a lot of things um to get these points. So, that just shows you how how much Load has done because Loi Loy first and last name Lahi Loy Lo Load is your new name. I mean, it’s like it’s like what what you’re saying. It’s like the body of work needs to be so robust. It can’t like you know what what you accomplished was so tremendous, right? But if it’s like kind of singular, it’s it’s not like a wide uh you know, body. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Got to you’ve got to and and you’ve got to come onto the LPJ and also perform. So, you can almost do everything amateur- wise and if you don’t do a few things on the LPJ tour or on the professional side of things, you still won’t get it. I think Leona, Rose, and maybe Lydia were the only ones and Brooke were the only ones that maybe would have gotten it. Um, so that just shows you how hard it would it would be to get it. And all those players are super successful. So, the fact that if she gets this top 25 and she gets her card, she deserves it 100%. Can you imagine her going to first stage of Q school? Like Yeah, I know. It’s like Yeah. It’s like a slap in the face, you know? True. And she would dominate, too. Like even if she did have to, it’d be like she’s getting in. But yeah, like hopefully it’s so much unnecessary pressure, you know? It’s so much unnecessary. You want the best players in the world to be on tour that I was going to say the exact same thing. The LPJ wants to put the best product forward and if the ability to put the best product forward is a reflection of the best players that are on said tour, right? That’s what you want. Yeah. Exactly. I think no matter what, we will see Lahie very very soon out on the LPGA. We’ve already seen her play in like all of the tournaments this year. I know now I’m like about to say Loy. She said it. I’m going to interview her this week and say Load Lie goes to Nashville and it’s like oh now I’m load. Yeah. Now that we have kind of set the scene for the tournament, y’all know what time it is. It is time for our quick nine. And this time we’re not doing a draft. And also, I messed up the snake draft. I turns out I did not know what a snake draft was. Um when we did the draft at KBMG, someone commented, “Hope doesn’t know what a snake draft is.” And I said, “You’re so right.” Um so we’re not doing that. We’re just gonna each pick three players who we think you should keep an eye on and out of those three who you think might win. So, Emma, do you want to kick us off? Oh, I would love to kick us off. Oh, I know you would. Um, okay. I I feel like mine are pretty good. I mean, okay. They always are, but I really think that we’re we’re going to hit the nail on the We’re so humble. Yeah. Yeah. I’m very humble, but I think we’re going to do it. Okay. My first one’s Hygiene Choice. And the reason I’m picking her is I picked her last time, too. But it’s because I really think she’s gonna win very soon. I think this golf course she hits the ball so straight. Um her drive driving accuracy is 76%. She’s eighth in putts per green in regulation. She’s second in ball striking which all those are very important. She’s ninth on CME and her last few finishes T8, second, T4th, T4th, T 33rd, T12th, T9th. Oh my goodness. You have you have a couple majors in there as well. So, like she’s playing really well. So, that’s my first one. I think and that I think that that would actually No, I’m gonna I’m gonna make Adam mad. My next player is Broo Henderson. Yes, it is. As Adam said last week, she told Adam that she’s been playing really well and she has like she you were finally seeing the brook that we used to see all the time. Um she’s won there before. She loves that golf course. It sets up great for her eyes. She’s definitely a player that can hit it both ways. Um, she loves the crepes. You see her at the same place every single night, her and Britney. Um, and Adam didn’t pick her, so I picked her and I’m going to pick her to win as well. So, that’s all I like. And then my last one, which this was originally the person I was going to say was going to win, was Angel Yen. She hits it both ways. She’s definitely not scared to go at flags. Her putting is she’s a very sneaky putter. Hits it putts so well. She’s fifth in greens per putts per green and regulation, 15th in greens and regulations. And these are her she for some reason she just well it’s because she putts well and she hits the ball really far and she’s not scared of anything. But her her finishes at majors lately pretty impressive. Fifth at CME, T6 KPMG, T9th US Open, 13th at Chevron. So, pretty good. I like it. That’s a good fifth at CME. She’s fifth on CME, not fifth at CM. I was like, okay, so CME is a major now. Yeah. Yeah. Sorry. But ninth and 13th. That’s like such a good run at majors um so far this year. So, that is Angel Brooken Choy. Boom. Boom. Boom. I like it. I like it. Adam, I didn’t know we were saying all three of our picks all all in a row, but this is uh this is what how we’re going to rock it. And hope you hopefully you ready. I’ve got three. I am ready. I got Okay, I got two like one that’s like so everyone’s going to be like as if you actually did that one. One is going to be like, oh that’s interesting. And a third that’s going to be like who what are you doing? Get me my Google machine out. How are we? How have we landed on this one? But that one might be the might be the winner. So, I’m gonna start with Miy Lee. I know she just won, but she’s won this one before. She knows how to play it. She’s the best ball striker on tour, and she’s had a nice little break. You know, she’s had her little time to come down from the other major to rest and recover and get herself ready again. Um, and I just think it’s one of those particular things where it’s like, I could do it all. I’m gonna be the world beater here. I’m not afraid of anyone. There’s no one that’s really taken the reigns and kind of dominated so far this year, but I am going to be the one to do just that. So, Mi Lee is my first pick. Uh my second pick who I think is going to actually win. Uh Gemma Dry. Uh Gemma, this is the only major that she has never missed a cut at. Uh two top 20 finishes in the last two years, including a eighth uh last year, her best ever career finish at a major. slightly worried about the strokes gained off the tea stat for her. She’s 122nd on the tour in that this year, but uh it’s never really been her strong point and like I mentioned a minute ago, she still has two top 20 finishes at this major despite that particular situation. So, she’s managed to she she managed to hang herself. She can. Yeah. So, she’s holding on uh impressively despite that particular stat. And we had talked 10, 15, 20 minutes ago about uh veteran presence and just kind of being there and having that in your back pocket as the X factor. She’s 32 years old. I think if you added up the last, you know, six winners of the Ebian Championship and found the average age, I bet you it’s probably around that that mark. We’ve had some younger ones obviously, but then Angela of course, you know, she kind of brings it up and Anna Nordquist of course as well. She was in her 30s when she won, so it was kind of up there too. So, Gemma, the gem of the week, I think. My final pick, my final pick, get your Googles out, is going to be Mimi Roads. Mimi, uh, English. Three wins already on the LE this year. Three wins on the LE this year. She got an invite to the KPMG. Missed the cut, but you know what? That’s in the rear view. We’re going to It’s in that new week. She She does better in uh She went to Wake Forest. Yeah, she went to Wake Forest. part of that 2023 division 1 winning championship team and she hits 76% of her fairways, 78% of her greens. Mimi Rhodess, surprise, surprise. I got a good feeling. I like it. I like that, too. I always like a random pick because out on the LPGA, you just you literally don’t know what’s going to happen. And and if you look at the runners up at this tournament over the last number of years, some of them they’re coming out of nowhere. No. for sure. And also, you see some players that have like absolutely dominated on the le and then come over to the LPGA and just do the same thing. So, I don’t think that’s a bad pick. I mean, this that win could get her out on the LPGA permanently. So, thank you, Hope. Yes, we shall see. And you know what? I I’m always underdog. Who do you got? Um, okay. These I feel like my first two picks are kind of like copouts because they’re just so good that it’s like like Yeah. Okay. Of course they have a chance to win. I picked I picked Miy Lee for my first pick who just won KBMG Women’s PJ Championship. Yeah. Um, okay. So, my first pick is Hate on You. I mentioned her earlier. She had a really, really good finish here last year. She’s already had a win this year, so I think she’s going to be the first. Well, actually, she’s not my pick to win, so I don’t necessarily think she’s going to be the first repeat winner, but I think she could be. She’s first in strokes gained tea green on tour, fifth in strokes gained off the tea, and first in strokes gained approach. Um, and like I already said, yeah, so she’s she’s really good. Um, and she finished at Evian last year. And like Emma said earlier, I think those ball strikers are going to be very important. Um, so I think Haydon could easily do it, but she’s not my pick to win. My pick to win is Gino Titune. I mean, we thought at this point that she would have already won at least one major, and she’s been close. She has been close. She’s already won once this year. It wasn’t a major, but I think this could be the week that she does it. She actually missed the cut here last year, but I honestly don’t really think that matters. She’s just been playing so well. She had a good finish at KPMG. She is due. And I just have a feeling that she’s like, I’m hungry. I want to do it. And this is going to be the week that I do it. She’s first in strokes gained total and seventh in strokes gained putting. And then so she’s my she’s my pick to win it all. And my third pick is very fitting. I actually changed it from what I told you guys. It was originally going to be Lauren Coglin, but I changed it to Austin Kim for a couple of reasons. She has been playing extremely well. She’s very creative. She absolutely bombs it and she’s a pretty good putter. She’s up there um in strokes gain putting and I think she has a good chance to win. And also she is our guest on the um other podcast episode this week. So I’m like I kind of have to pick her and I love her. She’s like such a such a nice gal. Um, she played in the tournament last year. She did not make the cut either, but she loved Evian and like we’ve been talking about, I think she’s not like a veteran now by any means, but she has some experience. She’s played the course. She’s in good form and I think she’s someone who at least would get a top 10 finish. So, those are my three. Um, I think Gino’s going to do it, but we’ll see. It’s all TBD. You literally never know what is going on. Well, yeah, we we haven’t done it yet. So, it’s TBD with a capital T uh D and B. So, maybe maybe this will be our week. We just keep going. Oh, we just needed to go across the pond. None of these American majors like what? It’s fine. We’re we’re we’re we’re go we’re going global. We’ll figure it out now. We’re going global. And yeah, I mean, sorry to everyone too that’s maybe picked one of our winners that we’ve picked. Um, maybe this will be the week. They’ve been well well constructed arguments for uh for each of our of our choices here. It wasn’t like we were just completely going early exits by everybody. But, uh, you know, it’s golf. It’s golf. 150 of them. Yeah. And we’ve had every single tournament has been a different winner. So, that also does not help our case. But, Exactly. With all of that being said, I want whoever is watching or listening right now to leave a comment and let us know who your three picks are because I think some of our listeners and viewers actually picked Miy. So, obviously y’all are better than us. We’re supposed to be the experts, but whatever. So, tell us in the comments who your three picks are. And yeah, be sure to tune in to watch because it is going to be an incredible week. And if you haven’t already watched and listened, go listen to the podcast with Austin Kim. She is awesome. And keep an eye on her as well. Keep an eye on all the players that we mentioned, but let us know who you think is going to win. And Adam, let’s have ourselves a week. Let’s go. Let’s have ourselves a week. Hope please have please have so much water for for all of us. That would be great. Please have uh champagne, I think, is another thing that uh is often served over there. Of course, I will. And maybe like a little a little chocolatey little chocolatey dessert kind of thing. Maybe if you can hit that iconic trio of items that would be that’d be great. I think I will just because you said so. I’ll drink plenty of champagne in your honor. Amazing. Love that. Love that. Um have a nice week that I think to put a pin on everything. You are right. It’s July. Uh there’s been so much already and and that you know that winner only singular winners. No repeat winners. Something to keep an eye on. um you know kind of the the ra the sprint to the CME Globe uh season finale as well. Something to keep an eye on the two majors the etc etc etc. Uh it should be a fun little summer on the LBJ tour. Absolutely. And if you want to watch which you should watch, you can watch on Golf Channel and Peacock and it’s going to be great. So thank you Adam, thank you Emma. And yeah, let’s have ourselves a major week. Avoa. That was okay. [Music]

In this episode, the hosts discuss the upcoming Amundi Evian Championship, reflecting on the LPGA season so far and the significance of this major tournament. They share insights on the golf course, player strategies, and emerging talents, including the new LEAP points system for amateur players. The conversation culminates in a quick nine segment where each host shares their predictions for potential winners of the championship, emphasizing the unpredictability of the sport.

Check out https://www.lpga.com for complete coverage along with all the latest news, scoring, and stats!

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