Ko ready to show

The women’s best golfers are in France for their fifth and final major of the year chasing the second-biggest purse on tour with US$3.85 million (increasing to US$4.1m in 2019) on offer at the Evian Championship. Only the US Open (US$5m) is richer. Terrible weather a year ago reduced the tournament to 54 holes and is a major reason it will revert to a July date next year following the realignment of the men’s and women’s tours. Swede Anna Nordqvist prevailed in a playoff — a bogey good enough for the win — over Brittany Altomare in hail and driving rain. Lydia Ko, the winner here in 2015 after being runner-up in 2013, failed by just one stroke to make the playoff. She’s only once been out of the top eight in her five appearances here, but struggled to a one-over first round to sit in a share of 41st, seven shots off the lead. All the best players are on course this week, led by South Korean Sung Hyun Park, who won the LPGA crown and heads the world rankings. Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn, who claimed the US Open, is second in the rankings. Georgia Hall gave home fans plenty to cheer with her win in the British Open, while Pernilla Lindberg joined the season’s major winners with victory in the ANA Inspiration. Ko arrived here ranked 16th and will be looking to bounce back in the coming rounds for the chance to add to the US$9.3m she has banked since turning professional. Of the top 20 players on the career earnings list, Ko has made it from just 136 outings — by some way the least number of tournaments played.

Evian Championship, today 10.30pm; tomorrow 9pm. ●