Gabi Ruffels and Grace Kim tied for lead at Evian Championship, Minjee Lee shot back

There are nine Australians in the fourth major of the LPGA season and three of them dominate the top of the leaderboard after the opening round in France.

There are Australian flags everywhere at the top of the leaderboard after the opening round of the fourth major of the LPGA season, with Gabi Ruffels and Grace Kim tied for the lead at the Evian Championship.

Ruffels declared she was being driven by the success of three-time major champion Minjee Lee, who is just a shot back, with expectations things could get tougher on a course getting “drier and drier” amid a drought in the area that limited how much water could be put on the Evian Resort course.

Lee, who won the PGA Championship just two weeks ago and won the Evian in 2021, carded a five-under 66, with just one bogey, to be one shot back from her compatriots who are among five players who all shot scores of six-under on the opening day.

Ruffels, who swapped from tennis to golf as a teenager, visited Wimbledon on her way to France, ticking off a “bucket-list thing”, with winning a major also on that list.

“I last went when I was six so I didn’t really remember it. I wanted to go when I remembered and appreciated it,” Ruffels said.

Gabi Ruffels is the Round 1 leader at the Amundi Evian Championship. 2025.

“I went with my boyfriend and also we went kind of as guests of Todd Woodbridge. He got us into the members-only area, which was so cool. It was such a cool experience.”

Ruffels said she and all the Australians were continuing to draw inspiration from Lee in pursuit of their own major dreams.

“I feel like we’re all kind of pushing and inspiring each other,” she said.

“Seeing Minjee win last week was so cool or a couple weeks ago. She’s obviously a three-major champion and she’s been great to me and great to all of us Australian girls coming up. She’s definitely a mentor to me and someone I look up to.

“If I can follow in Hannah (Green) and Minjee’s footsteps a little bit then I would be doing pretty good.”

Grace Kim is the Round 1 at the Amundi Evian Championship. 2025.

Kim, who won on the LPGA tour in her rookie year, said the nature of the course suited all the Australians.

“I think we’re all pretty self-sufficient in the sense we don’t always need to hit off like firm, flat grounds,” she said.

“We know how to work different lies and different angles and wind directions. Obviously, it’s quite tight off the tees on some holes, so I think we’re pretty patient in a sense with that.

“But at the same time, we’re very skilful.”

Stephanie Kyriacou, who finished runner-up last year, was the only other Australian to finish under par, carding an opening one-under 70.