Thursday 15 September 2016 11:14, UK
The best players in the world have gathered in France for the final major of the year at the Evian Championship, and Henni Zuel has been giving us her thoughts on what makes the tournament so special ...
There have been a few conflicting opinions on the layout at the Evian Resort, but I like it. The course can be very fiddly in parts, but not completely. There's a nice mix of short par-fours and long, tight par-fours, and it's a very good test of golf.
A few of the holes have a significant change in elevation, particularly into the greens, so club selection and distance control is crucial. Most of the fairways are quite undulating as well, so keeping the ball on the short grass can be challenging.
It's not always a case of trying to smash it down the middle, you have to be quite smart and take careful note of where the slopes are. The same can be said of a lot of the greens, and there will be holes where you have to play away from the pins if you want to hit and hold the putting surface.
Course management is the key to success here, and I think it is a huge advantage to have the course knowledge here as well. If you get your strategy right and plot your way around, you will do well at Evian.
The tournament has been a major since 2013, but it has always has a special feel about it. It's the equivalent of the Players Championship at Sawgrass in many ways, and it's a stunning location. It's easy to be distracted by some of the views from the course, particularly looking over Lake Geneva.
All the players really look forward to this week, and the atmosphere is usually quite relaxed and fun. It deserves to have major status, even though some have questioned the merits of having five majors in a year now.
The organisers, sponsors and promoters are forward thinking and make the week so enjoyable for the players and the fans. They're not afraid to try new innovations, and the hospitality is as good as anywhere in the world.
Everything combines to make the Evian a great event, and I've not really heard of any players who have had anything to complain about.
Lydia Ko made her major breakthrough at the Evian last year, firing a sensational final-round 63 to win by six shots. Scoring is generally pretty good, but I'm not sure we will see the same this week.
The recent hot and dry weather has made the course a lot firmer and faster than usual, although the forecast is for some thunderstorms and rain during the tournament.
But until they get some rain, it's going to be very difficult to keep the ball of some of the fairways, and they have also grown the rough a bit more. If we do see some rain, it will be easier to hold the fairways, but there's no future in finding the longer, thicker rough if it gets wet.
I'll be very surprised if we see scores in the low 60s this year.
Lydia is the defending champion, the world No 1 and is clearly the player to beat, but there are so many others who have been in good form over the last couple of months.
The course sets up well for Lydia, as she hits it so straight and her course management is probably the best in the world. It's one of those courses where, if you do well on it once, you tend to keep on performing well there.
One of the form players this season has been Ariya Jutanugarn, who is currently second on the LPGA Tour money list having won five times, including her first major at the Women's British Open at Woburn in July.
She made her Evian debut last year and finished outside the top 40, but she's clearly a different player in 2016 although she will have to be very patient to make it back-to-back major wins.
The layout certainly favours Lydia because she thinks her way around so well, but Ariya has been so strong this year and you cannot rule her out. She's got the game, and hits the ball a long way, but Evian is as much of a test of patience as ball-striking ability.
It's also about the ability to bounce back from a bad hole. It's tough to get round without a bogey on the card, so keeping your composure and accepting that mistakes will happen is critical. And, again, that is another of Lydia's strengths.
