LPGA Tour Enters Pivotal Three-Week European Stretch
The LPGA Tour embarks on one of its most demanding three-week stretches of the season this week with two major championships and the Scottish Open sandwiched in between, rounding out the month.
Advertisement
The gauntlet begins Thursday at Evian Resort Golf Club in France, where the world's best female golfers will compete for the Amundi Evian Championship, the season's fourth major. The following week, players cross the English Channel to Scotland for the ISPS Handa Women's Scottish Open at Dundonald Links before concluding the marathon at Royal Porthcawl Golf Club in Wales for the AIG Women's Open, the fifth and final major of 2025.
This European swing is about much more than just hopping among countries. With $19 million in prize money up for grabs and two majors on the line, the next three weeks could completely shake up the season's biggest storylines and crown this year's most important champions.
The Evian Championship kicks things off, bringing an $8 million purse and $1.2 million winner's check to the stunning course overlooking Lake Geneva. Defending champion Ayaka Furue heads back to the place where she claimed her first major last July, closing with a 65 to edge Stephanie Kyriacou by one shot.
The Evian Championship has been through quite a journey since joining the majors in 2013. It started as a September finale before moving to July in 2019, and the course got a major makeover with an $8 million renovation in 2012-13.
Advertisement
Next up is the Scottish Open, the middle chapter of this European adventure. Dundonald Links hosts for the fourth time since 2017, offering $2 million in prize money with $300,000 going to the winner. More importantly, it gives players a crucial chance to get comfortable with links golf before the final major.
Lauren Coughlin captured last year's Scottish Open title at Dundonald, earning her first LPGA victory with a four-stroke win over Esther Henseleit. The American's breakthrough came during a season where she also claimed her first major at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship.
The crescendo arrives at Royal Porthcawl, which will host the AIG Women's Open for the first time. The Welsh venue has a distinguished history, having staged the Senior Open Championship three times and The Amateur Championship on seven occasions. The club received royal designation from King Edward VII in 1909 and has long been considered one of Britain's finest coastal courses.
Royal Porthcawl's debut as a Women's Open host marks a big moment for the championship, which has been steadily adding new venues beyond the traditional Open Championship rotation. The Welsh course can stretch out to as much as 7,137 yards and plays to a par-72. Coastal winds and firm conditions will test every part of the players' games.
Advertisement
Last year's champion, Lydia Ko, who has one win so far this season, along with two other top 10 finishes, looks to repeat and capture the $1.35 million winner's share of the $9 million total purse.
This season has seen Jeeno Thitikul headline through the midway point. She has one win and seven top-10s in 12 starts. Thitikul leads the Race to the CME Globe with a 206-point lead over Minjee Lee and a 407-point lead over Rio Takeda in the third spot.
Nelly Korda, who retains her place as the No. 1 player in the world, has yet to win an event this season. In 10 starts, she has four top-10s and, despite being winless in 2025, always enters events as a favorite. Nelly sits in the seventh spot in the Race to the CME Globe, currently 578 points back of Thitikul.
Advertisement
The European stretch also gives international players a chance to shine closer to home. England's Charley Hull and Georgia Hall will have plenty of support at Royal Porthcawl, while France's Celine Boutier — who swept both the Evian Championship and Scottish Open in 2023 — knows exactly what it takes to succeed in this environment.
As the LPGA Tour heads into this defining stretch, one thing is certain: The next three weeks will deliver drama and surprises, and will likely determine who emerges as the tour's biggest stars heading into the season's final months.
Related: A True American Story: LPGA Celebrates 75 Years
Related: World's No. 1 LPGA Golfer Sends Clear Message Ahead of Final Round of ShopRite Classic
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 6, 2025, where it first appeared.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hamilton Spectator
28 minutes ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Euro 2025: Wales team bus involved in road traffic crash en route to practice
ST. GALLEN, Switzerland (AP) — The Wales team bus was involved in a road traffic crash on Tuesday and its training session was canceled at the stadium where it plays France at the Women's European Championship. The Welsh Football Association said in a statement all the people involved — players and staff on the bus and in the other vehicle — were unharmed in the incident en route to the stadium in St. Gallen. Wales coach Rhian Wilkinson travelled separately from the team to the stadium for a news conference one day ahead of Wednesday's game. 'Football is secondary and I think, yes, we are shaken because we are away from the team right now knowing that they've had to experience that,' Wilkinson said in comments reported by the BBC. FAW said its priority 'has been to remove the players from the scene and return to the Cymru training base to complete their preparations for tomorrow's match.' Wales plays France in the second Group D game for both at Euro 2025. Wales lost to the Netherlands 3-0 on Saturday and France beat defending champion England 2-1. ___ AP soccer:
Washington Post
34 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Xander Schauffele is trying to flush what feels like his worst season
NORTH BERWICK, Scotland — The best thing Xander Schauffele has going for him in the worst season of his career is a good attitude. That much was evident Tuesday when he walked into the media center at the Scottish Open and saw his picture. It was on a wall beneath a sign that said, 'TOILETS.'
Associated Press
43 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Xander Schauffele is trying to flush what feels like his worst season
NORTH BERWICK, Scotland (AP) — The best thing Xander Schauffele has going for him in the worst season of his career is a good attitude. That much was evident Tuesday when he walked into the media center at the Scottish Open and saw his picture. It was on a wall beneath a sign that said, 'TOILETS.' 'That was heartwarming,' Schauffele said with a grin that never seems too far away. 'Summed up how I feel about what's going on right now. I actually chuckled when I saw that one.' He is the only American to win the Scottish Open over the last 10 years. He defends his title next week in the British Open, a victory that made him a double major winner in 2024, which allowed him to take his place among the elite in golf. That can feel like much longer than a year ago. Schauffele had reason to have big expectations this year. What he didn't see coming was a twinge in his ribs to start the season in Hawaii that turned out to be much worse — an intercostal strain and a cartilage tear. He missed two months with the first significant injury of his career. He has not been the same since then, with only one top-10 finish, a tie for eighth in the Masters. His greatest achievement was extending his cut streak on the PGA Tour to 67 consecutive tournaments, the longest such streak in 20 years. 'I probably downplayed it in my own mind — 'Yeah, you'll be fine, you've been playing great golf, you just came off the best year of your career' — and I've backed it up currently with the worst year of my career. It's been a hot one.' This is not where he expected to be coming into the final stretch of the year. 'The belief is good,' he said. 'I don't think I've given myself a lot of reasons to believe that I'm playing OK. It's been a pretty bad year to be completely honest. ... I think the best part of my game has probably been my mental just fortitude, whatever you want to call it, just to try to stay positive and behave as if I am playing really well. 'But coming off a year like last year, getting hurt, coming back, my expectations and playing ability have not cued up very nicely.' The injury is no longer an issue. The game has looked good at times. What he lacks is a spark, which comes from results, to get him going. Schauffele has great discipline that gets lost behind that San Diego vibe of his. He chose to not add tournaments to his schedule to make up for lost time, even though he finds himself chasing this late in the year. He won twice as a rookie, including the Tour Championship. Chasing is not something he does. The Ryder Cup is not an issue. Winning the PGA Championship and the British Open has allowed him to stay at No. 2 in the U.S. standings. But he is at No. 57 in the FedEx Cup — only the top 70 make the postseason — and these two weeks on links golf could go a long way toward making sure he gets there. 'It's been a weird year for me just from coming off the year I had last year into sort of what I did, just kind of disappearing and then playing bad coming out of it,' he said. 'So any expectation I had of whatever I thought I was capable of doing from a feel standpoint has been sort of reset, and I am in full chase mode, like a kid.' He hopes links golf will be part of the tonic. Part of Schauffele wishes he could have come earlier across the Atlantic, where he could play golf that consists of seeing the target and hitting the ball, nothing more complicated than that. 'Something about being here, you start taking your hands off the wheel, and that's how I played my best,' he said. Schauffele was in peak form a year ago. He broke through with his first major at the PGA Championship that asked a lot of him on a soft course at Valhalla, particularly the last hole. He had to stand in a bunker to play a shot from the rough with a 4-iron, the ball well above his feet, water down the right side. From there, he pitched to 6 feet and swirled in the birdie putt for a one-shot victory over Bryson DeChambeau. Two months later, he withstood rain and wind at Royal Troon with a 65 in the final round to give him a second major. He was No. 2 in the world. Scottie Scheffler was still miles ahead, but Schauffele was at a point where he felt he could win wherever he played. Those were happy times. This only feels like the worst of times. There is also something about the chase that takes him back to being a kid, when he wasn't the highly recruited star and was virtually an unknown before he earned his recognition. This feels like starting over. 'I've been spoiled to play at a pretty high level for quite some time,' he said. 'This has been a fun experience to try to get back on the horse.' ___ On The Fringe analyzes the biggest topics in golf during the season. AP golf:
