The Amundi Evian Championship is underway

The GIST: The fourth of five annual LPGA majors is underway across the pond: The Amundi Evian Championship, held, as always, at the Evian Resort Golf Club in Évian-les-Bains, France. Suddenly feeling thirsty? Same.

• This year’s $6.5M purse marks a $2M increase from 2021, but is staggeringly lower than the $11M that was up for grabs at the U.S. Women’s Open major earlier this month.

Through the first round: South Africa’s Paula Reto finished atop after Day 1, with France’s own Celine Boutier hot on her tail. A Frenchwoman has never won this home tournament, but sitting comfortably in a four-way tie for second, Boutier (who is the winningest French player in the LPGA) may be off to a history-making start.

Who to watch: Defending champion Brooke Henderson, of course. The Canadian played a poised eighteen to start the tournament and is tied for 19th with American phenom rookie, Rose Zhang.

• After a slow start Zhang birdied four of her last five holes of the day, setting her up for a solid second round.