A close encounter with the biggest star in the women\u2019s game has made Kelsey Bennett acutely aware that she is not in Mollymook anymore ahead of her major championship return in France.<\/p>\n
The 26-year-old from the New South Wales South Coast plays in her first major in almost three years at this week\u2019s The Amundi Evian Championship at the Evian Resort Golf Club, one of eight Aussies teeing it up in the fourth LPGA major of the year.<\/p>\n
Now ranked 112 in the world on the back of a win and two runner-up finishes on the Ladies European Tour this season, Bennett is flying high, brought back down to earth somewhat as she registered for her first major since the 2023 AIG Women\u2019s Open.<\/p>\n
\u201cI went to register and Nelly (Korda) was right next to me and I was like,\u00a0Oh, sheesh,\u201d said Bennett of her brush with the recent US Women\u2019s Open champion.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is only my second major I\u2019ve ever played and obviously my first time here at Evian. So it\u2019s awesome.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just a whole other vibe to see all of the LPGA girls. It\u2019s cool.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not only the American No.1 who has left an early impression on Bennett.<\/p>\n
The Golf Australia Rookie Squad member caught up with four-time winner this year, Hannah Green, on the practice range and was inadvertently given a stark reminder of what it takes to win a major while having breakfast on Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw Grace (Kim) playing holes when I was having breakfast and I was like,\u00a0That\u2019s why she won it last year because I\u2019m here eating food and she\u2019s out there playing golf,\u201d Bennett joked.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was like, \u2018OK, I\u2019m going to get up and go do something now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bennett has already had a crack at replicating the extraordinary chip shot Kim holed at the first playoff hole 12 months ago in the lead-up to the Jabra Ladies Open de France at Evian just six weeks ago.<\/p>\n
The Australian Women\u2019s Classic champion would finish tied 18th that week, providing a handy level of familiarity as she seeks to showcase her game in even higher company.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously to be able to get that prep in not too long before this event\u2019s game-changing, I reckon,\u201d added Bennett, who led into the final round of last week\u2019s Hulencourt Women\u2019s Open in Belgium before finishing second.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, we play it a little bit longer and whatnot for this week, but it\u2019s just getting used to the grass and the conditions and the heat and stuff. I think it\u2019s great.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Amundi Evian Championship has been kind to Australians in recent years.<\/p>\n
Kim produced one of the great finishes in major championship history to win last year, Stephanie Kyriacou was second in 2024 while Minjee Lee missed the playoff by one last year having won herself in 2021.<\/p>\n
It is a rare double major championship week this week with nine Aussies and Kiwi Steven Alker backing up after last week\u2019s US Senior Open at the Kaulig Companies Championship, while build-up to next week\u2019s Open Championship heats up at the Genesis Scottish Open.<\/p>\n
Five years since he announced himself on the world stage with victory at The Renaissance Club, Min Woo Lee heads an Aussie charge that also features Adam Scott, Cam Davis and Karl Vilips and Kiwi pair Ryan Fox and Daniel Hillier.<\/p>\n
Round 1 tee times AEST<\/p>\n
The Amundi Evian Championship
Evian Resort Golf Club, Evian-les-bains, France
4pm*\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Minjee Lee
5pm\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kelsey Bennett
5pm*\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Robyn Choi
8:12pm\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Karis Davidson
8:24pm\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Gabriela Ruffels
8:36pm\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lydia Ko (NZ)
8:48pm\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Grace Kim
9pm\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Hannah Green
9:12pm\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cassie Porter<\/p>\n
Recent champion: Grace Kim
Past Aussie winners: Rachel Hetherington (2001), Wendy Doolan (2004), Karrie Webb (2006), Minjee Lee (2021), Grace Kim (2025)
Prizemoney: $US9.1m
TV times: Live 8pm-2am Thursday, Friday on Fox Sports 503; Live 6pm-12am Saturday on Fox Sports 505; Live 6pm-12:30am Sunday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo Sports.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A close encounter with the biggest star in the women\u2019s game has made Kelsey Bennett acutely aware that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":789075,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[204889,64,63,755,29528,29527,258338,28635,21225,85],"class_list":["post-789074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-amundi-evian-championship","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-golf","tag-grace-kim","tag-hannah-green","tag-kelsey-bennett","tag-ladies-european-tour","tag-nelly-korda","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/789074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=789074"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/789074\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/789075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=789074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=789074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=789074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}