Haeran Ryu Wins 2026 Amundi Evian Championship

At the end of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship just two short weeks ago, I suggested that if Haeran Ryu continued to put her prolific ball-striking and great putting together — what drove her to her first major victory that week — then the LPGA should be on notice. If you aren't paying attention to Haeran now after a major record-setting 60 in the third round and a second consecutive major victory at the 2026 Amundi Evian Championship, I'm not sure what else to say.

Sunday wasn't exactly smooth sailing for Haeran, whose putter went cold for most of the round, but it delivered when it mattered most. The 25-year-old made her first birdie of the day on the 18th, ahead of Brooke Henderson’s clutch eagle, to send the pair to a playoff finish. Haeran then split the fairway on the first playoff hole after a wayward tee shot from Brooke and sealed the deal with an easy birdie.

“This is just a dream right now because before the three weeks I don’t have a major championship, but now two in a row,” Ryu said after the round. “I’m so happy and I can’t believe it right now.”

A hectic summer schedule featuring three majors condensed into a five-week stretch allows for the hot hand to strike, and we are seeing just that with Haeran. Looking ahead to the AIG Women’s Open in three weeks at Royal Lytham & St. Anne’s, Ryu will easily be the one to beat at a course that suits her precision-based approach.

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The finish at the Evian delivered yet again with a three-horse race down the home stretch as Ryu, Henderson — drafting off her third-place finish at the KPMG — and Aki Iwai all had a chance to win on the 18th tee.

Aki made a par on the final hole to miss the playoff by a shot, and the rising talent from Japan was so disappointed she could hardly speak after the round. Major championships have a way of bringing emotions out of players we aren’t used to seeing, and this made for a memorable moment. After Ryu was showered in French champagne and Evian water, she expressed gratitude for what the last couple of weeks have meant to her: “Yeah, just thankful. I'm a lucky girl.”

Say what you will about the Evian — I’m firmly on the record with my defense — but the move to shift the 18th hole from a brutal, long par 4 to a reachable, risk-reward par 5 has injected the championship with the drama it needed to produce a finish worth watching. We were treated to that again this year.