An amazing final round

What a tournament… and what a final round! This 2009 Evian Masters will undoubtedly go down in tournament and women’s golf history. Emotions, suspense, intensity, tenacity, disappointment and an outburst of joy: everything was there to make this a very special last day at Evian.

At the start of the day, this was already expected to be an enthralling final round. It lived up to its promise and more still. When they teed off, three girls were in pole position: Sophie Gustafson, In-Kyung Kim and Becky Brewerton, all three at -12, and a number of other players were right behind them. There were birdies and bogeys as the lead changed hands throughout the day, and for a long time Japan’s Ai Miyazato thought she would win the event outright. However, at the 18th Sophie Gustafson had a chance to win the tournament. Her chance of getting an eagle fell just short, although her birdie gave her a playoff against Miyazato.

And so to sudden death. The Japanese girl made the best start, but then ended up in the bunker. After their third shots, both players were on the green. Gustafson missed her put… whilst Miyazato hit her ball slowly but surely into the hole to win the Evian Masters!

What a way to come back from her bogey on the 18th the previous day, and what a time to get her first win on the European tour. A titanic battle and a classy win.

Lots of sun and some excellent golf

An amazing third day here in Evian… Not only was the sun out all day, which made a nice change, but the golf was truly impressive yesterday. No fewer than thirty players beat par for the round, twelve of them handing in cards of 4 under par or better, with two players putting in an even better performance. Cristie Kerr, the world n°2, shot five birdies, whilst Sophie Gustafson, who had already put in a fine performance on day 2, was again on top form as she got three birdies and an eagle, both players not getting a single bogey. They were therefore our “Best Players of the Day Société Générale”, with a round of -5 each.

Gustafson’s performance has left her joint top of the leaderboard with a day to go, along with Korea’s In-Kyung Kim and Wales’ Becky Brewerton, who is standing firm. Becky is the real surprise of the tournament so far, as she wasn’t even meant to be at Evian this week, only qualifying by virtue of her recent victory at the Spanish Open. She’s been on fire though. The cheers and applause Becky received as she walked on to the 18th green and again after she putted her final shot of the round moments later show that the 26 year old is fast becoming the fans’ favourite here in Evian.

This all makes for an extremely interesting final day: three girls are on 12 under par, with Cristie Kerr and Ai Miyazato just behind them on -11, Karrie Webb on -10 and Paula Creamer, Na Yeon Choi and last year’s winner Helen Alfredsson on -9. With the weather expected to be sunny all day, we can expect an amazing final round.

In today’s video, you can see all the best players, an “initiation to golf” interview between Sylvain Marconnet and Eric Marqueton, and an analysis of the 15th hole by Gwladys.

Back on the 2d round : Nocera misses the cut

Today was no different to yesterday in Evian, in terms of the weather, with the second round starting under a little sun in the morning, but it clouded over in the afternoon and the day’s play ended with the skies opening around 5.30 pm: the time of the Player of the Day ceremony.  Indeed, the awards for the first two days were handed out at the same time, as the previous day’s ceremony had been cancelled because of… the rain! So to a weird scene where seven players (three from the first round and four from the second) took turns to go up onto the small podium whilst being protected by a large umbrella…

Regarding the tournament itself, this second round again saw some truly excellent golf. Whilst three players were Best Player of the Day Société Générale after the first round, no less than four players shared the best round on day 2 with a card of 6 under par: Japan’s Ai Miyazato and Yuka Mitsuka, Korea’s Song-Hee Kim and Sweden’s Sophie Gustafson. Three young ladies now share the top of the leaderboard: Na Yeon Choi, Ai Miyazato and Becky Brewerton, the Welsh girl being the surprise package of the tournament so far.

Down at the other end of the leaderboard, players were desperately trying to make the cut that followed the second round – failure to make this cut barring golfers from playing the final two rounds over the weekend. At Evian, the cut was set at 3 over par, and unfortunately our Gwladys Nocera fell well short, with a card of 76 (+4) on the second day following her 3 over par on the first. 7 over par was nowhere good enough to make the cut, and so the tournament ends for a disappointed Gwladys…

For Société Générale though, things are far from over. This year, for every birdie on the 14th hole we are donating 200 euros to the Sport dans la Ville charity, which is supported by the Société Générale Foundation for Solidarity. Spectators can also help with this corporate citizenship action, because in the Sponsors area visitors can try some putting, with each ball that goes in raking in a further 5 euros. Half way through this event, a total of 4,000 euros has already been collected!

The video includes interviews with Adriana Karembeu and David Skrela, an analysis of the 13th hole by Gwladys Nocera and a look back at the football match played for the ELA charity association, with Zinédine Zidane, Cédric Heymans and Frédéric Oudéa, who proved to be fit and who clearly enjoyed the experience.

Watch the video of the 2d round

A cloudy first round

There wasn’t a lot of sunshine on the first day, with heavy weather and even the odd break in play because of the rain and the thunderstorm risk later in the day. To find a ray of sunshine, the best place to be was on the greens. And, in that respect, we can truly say that the start of the 2009 Evian Masters bodes well for the rest of the tournament.

At the end of the first day, three players handed in a card of 67, or 5 under par, an impressive performance. Wales’ Becky Brewerton struck first early in the day, and was later caught up by Korea’s In-Kyiung Kim and Na Yeon Choi. The tournament favourites had mixed fortunes, with Cristie Kerr, Paula Creamer and Helen Alfredsson at -2, Natalie Gulbis at -1, Michelle Wie at +1, Juli Inkster at +2 and world n°1 Lorena Ochoa at +3.

As for the French players, Karine Icher had an excellent day and is right up there on 4 under par. Disappointment, however, for Gwladys Nocera following her 3 over par total of 75. Still, we’re sure our champion will have a better day tomorrow.

Away from the greens, we’ve already seen quite a few VIPs, including Adriana and Christian Karembeu. Despite the threat of rain, the football match for the ELA charity association went ahead, which gave us a chance to watch the dribbling skills of Bixente Lizarazu, Guy Forget and, of course, Zinédine Zidane, but also Cédric Heymans, Grégory Bourdy and… Société Générale Chairman and CEO Frédéric Oudéa!

The video includes a cross-interview with Grégory Bourdy and Cédric Heymans, an analysis of the 13th hole by Gwladys Nocera and a look back at the first day.

Watch the video of the first day

The big day is here!

Watch the video of the pre-tournament

Follow the 2009 Evian Masters with Société Générale once again

From 23 to 26 July, the world’s top women golf players will gather at Evian-les-Bains on the shores of lake of Geneva. Lorena Ochoa, Natalie Gulbis, Yani Tseng and Gwladys Nocera, the French champion sponsored by Société Générale, will all compete on the course of the Evian Masters Golf Club.
Société Générale, a major partner of the Evian Masters since 2008, will again be right next to the course in order to share all the thrills of this unique event with you. Follow daily developments at Evian during the four-day tournament with us. We will provide you with video, audio and live coverage through Twitter, including interviews, analysis of the course by our champions, unusual developments, the tournament’s best players...