A stacked field of the best female golfers in the world will compete this week at the Evian Championship.
World No.1 Nelly Korda returns to action after being sidelined with a dog bite, which saw her miss her title defense at the Aramco Team Series last week, while nine of the world’s top 10 will also tee up at the Evian Resort Golf Club in France.
There will be 132 players in the field this week, but who are the big names who won’t be there? Here’s a look at some of the notable players to miss out on the fourth Major of the year…
Ruoning Yin
Chinese star Ruoning Yin, a three-time winner on the LPGA Tour, will miss this week’s tournament due to a wrist injury.
The World No.5 claimed her first victory of the season last month at the 2024 Dow Championship alongside teammate Atthaya Thitikul.
Yin and Thitikul beat American duo Ally Ewing and Jennifer Kupcho by one-stroke to claim the team event at Midland Country Club.
However, Yin revealed after the victory that she was nursing a wrist injury and said she would miss the Evian in order to recover ahead of the Paris Olympics.
“Honestly, I would say 60 percent,” she said of her injury. “I mean, I can play, but the difference is just, play with the pain or play without the pain … My next tournament will be the Olympics. We’ll see you in Paris.”
Lexi Thompson
Lexi Thompson has opted to skip the Evian once again, with her last appearance at the event coming in 2019.
The 29-year-old American, who recently announced that she will be retiring from professional golf at the end of the season, has three top 10s at the Evian – including third in 2013 and runner-up in 2015 – but hasn’t played at the event since speaking out about the course in 2019.
“I’m actually thankful that I don’t have to put myself through that for another two days,” she wrote in a post on Instagram in 2019 after missing the cut. “You’re a beautiful place Evian but that’s just too many bad breaks with good shots for me, so bye.”
She later deleted her post, clarifying that her critical comments were “directed at my frustration of not playing well in a Major”, but she hasn’t been back since.
Xiyu Lin
World No.15 Xiyu Lin, who has three top 10s on the LPGA Tour this season, will be absent from this week’s Major.
It is unclear why Lin, who would have qualified for the field due to her world ranking, isn’t in the field.
She is yet to win on the LPGA Tour but has 28 career top 10s.
Jiyai Shin
Former World No.1 Jiyai Shin, a two-time Major winner and one of the most influential players in LPGA history, won’t be teeing off at the Evian this week.
Shin gave up her LPGA Tour card in 2013 and now plays on the Japanese and Korean tours to be closer to home.
She competed at the first three Majors of the year, but isn’t in the field for this week’s event.
Danielle Kang
Former world No.2 Danielle Kang will miss the Evian amid a rough patch of form.
Kang, who missed the cut at last year’s event, won the 2017 Women’s PGA Championship but has since fallen to 98th in the world rankings.
She played in the first three Majors of the year, but missed the cut at the Chevron Championship and Women’s PGA, while only managing a T51 at the US Women’s Open.
She also missed the 2021 and 2022 Evian Championships.
Inbee Park
Inbee Park, who hasn’t played on the LPGA Tour since 2022, continues her time away from golf.
The 35-year-old gave birth to her first child in April 2023 and has been focussing on life away from the fairways.
Park, a 21-time winner on the LPGA Tour and gold medal winner at the 2016 Rio Olympics, was last year announced as one of 32 candidates for the IOC’s Athlete’s Commission.
She has been spending her time on the upcoming elections during the Paris Games and if successful, will serve an eight-year term.
Other notable names to miss out
Seven of the top 50 players in the world who qualified for the Evian won’t be teeing it up on Thursday, including Sakura Koiwai, Minji Park and Hyunkyung Park.
Jessica Korda, who gave birth to her first child in February this year, is another big name who won’t be playing this week as she remains on the sidelines.
English golfer Mel Reid, who has recently found fame as an analyst on NBC Sports and the Golf Channel, will also miss the Evian after failing to qualify.
Reid received widespread praise for her analysis of Nelly Korda’s 10 at Lancaster Country Club during the US Women’s Open.
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