At Evian, 2 stars hunting major win that will come with different meaning

Three weeks ago, Minjee Lee won her third major championship in emphatic fashion at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco. It was a win that removed the doubt that had followed Lee since her horrific Sunday at the 2024 Women’s U.S. Open and validated the process that led her to a long putter and, eventually, major No. 3.

Asked what was next for her in the big picture after a major win that broke a tie with many current stars, including Nelly Korda, Lee wouldn’t look far down the road. She just smiled and said the Evian was what was next.

With her win in Frisco now in the rearview mirror, Lee arrived at the Amundi Evian Championship at the Evian Resort Golf Club in France and fired an opening-round 5-under 66 to vault into early contention. She got punched in the mouth early in Round 2, making three bogeys and a double in her first six holes, but she played her final 12 holes in 5 under to hang in the fight and give herself a chance at major No. 4. On Saturday, Lee was polished and precise in carding a bogey-free 66 to get in the house at 10 under, one shot back of 54-hole leaders Cara Gainer and Gabi Ruffels.

“I definitely feel like I have a different mentality and maybe a little bit different fire in me after KPMG,” Lee said Saturday. “I definitely have a little different motivation, I think, coming off that win. So, yeah, I just feel like I’m in a really good position right now and, you know, can chase tomorrow.”

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Lee has already conquered Evian Resort before. In 2021, Lee entered the final round trailing by seven shots, but shot a final round 64 and beat Jeongeun Lee6 in a playoff to win her first career major.

Sunday will have a different feel for Lee, but those memories can only serve her as she looks to win back-to-back majors and become the first player to get to the four-major mark since Inbee Park did so 12 years ago.

Lee’s march to major No. 4 will have plenty of obstacles on Sunday, including world No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul, who will start the day tied with Lee at 10 under par.

The 22-year-old star is still searching for her first major championship. At last month’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, Thitikul held the 36-hole lead but watched as Lee zipped past her on a blistering hot weekend in North Texas.

Back in contention once again at a major, Thitikul believes she’s now better suited to handle the Sunday major championship cauldron than she has been in previous attempts.

“I think especially majors should be tough Sunday, like in each major — you need to have a really strong mindset going to [handle] the weekend. Tomorrow I know it’s going to be a lot of people who are chasing that, so I’m trying to be that one, too, who is trying to make lots of birdies out there.”

Playing alongside Lee, who bested her last month in Frisco, will add to the pressure on Sunday in France. But it’s a pressure that Thitikul seems equipped to handle. The world No. 2 has previously said that if she doesn’t win a major in her career, she’ll be OK. She loves golf and her main goal, as she explained to our Dylan Dethier, was to help give her family a better life. She has already done that. That perspective, along with her previous major championship close class, should help steady her as the pressure ratchets up on Sunday.

“I think definitely going to be a lot of thoughts going, fighting up into my mind, but I think definitely staying patient and then trying to keep it like shot by shot is the most important,” Thitikul said.

On a course where chasers can thrive, Sunday at the Amundi Evian Championship will have plenty of characters jockeying for the year’s fourth major title. But all eyes will be on Lee and Thitikul, two of the game’s superstars who dueled at the last major. One will be looking for her first taste of major victory, one that could potentially open the floodgates. The other will be looking for a win that will put her in an entirely different stratosphere and inch her closer to her “ultimate goal” of becoming an LPGA Hall of Famer (she currently has 14 of 27 points).