The 2024 Evian Championship is the fourth major of the LPGA season, and the golfers will tee off early Thursday morning in France. Evian Resort Golf Club in Evian-les-Bains is set to host their annual major championship.
While sometimes sloughed off as the “fifth major,” the course does still deliver some of the most gorgeous views for TV viewers (on Peacock and Golf Channel this year) and a very strong field that provides intrigue for golf bettors.
Some of the biggest names in the sport are dealing with vague injuries, with Nelly Korda recovering from a dog bite, Lilia Vu just two tournaments back from an extended absence, and Charley Hull having withdrawn from her most recent event after a fall.
Céline Boutier is the returning champion—in her home country, no less—but she hasn’t made much noise this year, so eyes are mostly focused elsewhere.
I was fortunate enough to have Justin Ray on the Bet She Wins podcast this week, and we talked through my whole card, as well as some picks from him. Here’s my card with the logic to each.
2024 Evian Championship Outright Bets
Minjee Lee
+3500 Outright (Caesars)
Minjee Lee is third among LPGA regulars in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green this season, and it will once again come down to her putter cooperating for her to win tournaments.
But even when the putter isn’t there, the rest of her game is so strong that she thrives in difficult major championship conditions. She has missed just one cut in 22 majors since the start of 2019, with eight top 10s, six top fives and two wins in that run.
She also has had a lot of success at this course, having played it nine times with five top 20s and a win in 2021. In that win, she made up a seven-stroke margin over the weekend thanks to a 65-64 finish on Saturday and Sunday.
If the putter is even decent, she’s going to be in contention.
2024 Evian Championship Placement Bets
Brooke Henderson
Top 5 +550 (BetRivers)
Brooke Henderson has absolutely owned the Evian Championship of late, with a win in 2022 and a runner-up in 2023. In eight events here, she has never missed the cut and has finished inside the top 10 as often as outside it!
She’s also back to playing some of her best golf this year after really raising her floor this season. She is also fresh off a top 10 in her most recent start.
Alexa Pano
Top 5 +4500 (Caesars)
If you’ve ever followed my LPGA picks before, you know I can’t quit Alexa Pano, and she is another player whose putter is the only real question mark in her game.
I love playing the ceiling for this 19-year-old; she doesn't have the results in majors just yet, but her statistical profile screams that she will arrive before long.
The only week she gained strokes with her putter this year, she finished runner up in a loaded field.
Atthaya Thitikul
Top 10 +160 (BetRivers)
Set it and forget it.
Atthaya Thitikul is fresh off a win at the Dow Championship in the LPGA team event alongside Ruoning Yin, but I'll focus on her ridiculously high floor.
She has top 10s in five of her last six events and seven of her 15 majors since 2021 (when she was 18!). She has been in the top 10 each of her three appearances at the Evian Championship, as well as one top 10 when she played this course at the Jabra.
Hyo Joo Kim
Top 10 +330 (BetRivers)
This is a bit of a buy-low spot on an incredibly talented golfer—and one who really steps up in majors. Since taking 2020 off, she has played 17 majors. In those 17, she has 14 top 20s and just two missed cuts! She also has six top 10s and four top fives.
Kim also has a great history at this course, having played here 10 times and never missed a cut. She also has eight top 20s in those 10 appearances.
Rio Takeda
Top 10 +400 (Caesars)
Miyū Yamasita is the big name from the JLPGA this year, but Takeda is quietly playing almost as well, just with much less helium attached to her odds.
Takeda finished ninth at the U.S. Women’s Open, and 32nd at the KPMG PGA Championship, and has been racking up wins and results aplenty in the JLPGA.
She has only eight rounds in the KPMG Strokes Gained insights, but by tee to green, she is literally the best golfer with multiple tournaments played.
And by strokes gained as a whole, only Korda and Yamasita are ahead of her.
Georgia Hall
Top 20 +185 (BetRivers)
In six events here, Georgia Hall has never missed a cut and has three top 10s. She’s coming off a pair of excellent results in team events the last few weeks, and clearly the market likes her based on her opening outright price of 100-1, which was crazy, to where it is now at 40-1.
The big worry here would be her form in majors of late, after missing three of her last eight cuts without a single top 10, but with her play overall having improved recently, I’m fine adding her for a top 20 at these odds.
Johanna Gustavsson | Weiwei Zhang
Top 20 +850 (BetRivers) | Top 20 +850 (BetRivers)
Johanna Gustavsson and Weiwei Zhang are my two long-shot top 20s to end this section. Gustavvson has a great history at this course, mostly dominating the Jabra Ladies Open on the European Tour, but she also took 28th last year and has been on a solid run of form overall this year, with top 10s aplenty of the Euro Tour heading into this tournament.
Weiwei is someone I consistently find myself betting because her statistical profile just doesn’t match her odds. She recorded her best result at a major championship this year with a 13th-place finish at the Chevron Championship.
2024 Evian Championship Matchup Bets
Jin Young Ko over Lillia Vu | Hannah Green over Charley Hull
+128 (BetRivers) | -115 (BetRivers)
Both of these matchups are predicated on fading players with injury concerns with high-floor opponents. From a similar mindset, if you can find Atthaya Thitikul at around even money against Nelly Korda, I would take that side as well.
Minjee Lee over Rose Zhang
-127 (BetRivers)
I mentioned how consistent Minjee Lee has been in majors over the past several years above, and Rose Zhang has been the opposite.
The Stanford Cardinal has as much talent as anyone, but she is still young and still struggling a bit with her floor—which makes her perfect to fade in matchups.
