Ryu Hae-ran tees off on the fourth hole during the first round of the Amundi Evian Championship 2026 at Evian Resort Golf Club in Evian-les-Bains, France, on Friday. [Getty Images]
Ryu Hae-ran tees off on the fourth hole during the first round of the Amundi Evian Championship 2026 at Evian Resort Golf Club in Evian-les-Bains, France, on Friday. [Getty Images]

Ryu Hae-ran opened the Amundi Evian Championship — an LPGA Tour major with a $9.1 million purse — in third place Friday, signaling a strong bid for back-to-back major titles.

Ryu carded six birdies against a single bogey for a 5-under-par 66 in the first round at Evian Resort Golf Club (par 71) in Evian-les-Bains, France, on Thursday (local time).

Japan's Iwai Akie seized sole possession of the lead with an 8-under-par round, leaving Ryu three strokes back in a tie for third.

Ryu claimed her first major title at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship — the season's third major — which concluded June 29.

In 11 LPGA Tour starts this year, she has recorded one win and seven top-10 finishes, sitting second in Player of the Year points behind Nelly Korda of the United States and third in the CME Globe Race standings behind Korda and Kim Hyo-joo. She began this event right where she left off.

Starting her round on the 10th hole, Ryu strung together birdies on the 12th (par 4), 14th (par 3), 16th (par 3) and 18th (par 5) to go 4-under through the front nine, then added another birdie on the third hole (par 4).

Her only blemish came on the eighth hole (par 3), but she bounced back with a birdie on the closing ninth (par 5) to finish the day on a high note. She missed the fairway once and the green three times, finishing with 28 putts.

"My iron shots were very good and I didn't make any big mistakes with the putter," Ryu said. "Having won a major, I felt at ease, and I think that's why I was able to have a good day today." She added that if her long putting and ball-striking hold up over the remaining three rounds, she expects to contend for the title.

Iwai, who won once on the LPGA Tour in her debut season last year, went bogey-free with eight birdies to take the outright lead. France's Perrine Delacour was alone in second at 6-under-par 65, two strokes back.

Im Jin-hee matched Ryu's 5-under to share third, while Kang Min-ji was tied for eighth at 4-under 67. Choi Un-jeong and Lee So-mi finished the opening round tied for 15th at 3-under 68.

Kim Hyo-joo, the 2014 champion here and currently the highest-ranked Korean player in the world at No. 3, carded four birdies and two bogeys for a 2-under 69, beginning the tournament in a tie for 20th. Yun I-na, Kim Sei-young and Lydia Ko of New Zealand were also among those tied for 20th.


yjc@heraldcorp.com