Cara Gainer and Gabriela Ruffels lead after round three of 2025 Evian Championship

Gabriela Ruffels (YouTube)

We are now three rounds into the 2025 Evian Championship in France, and after 54 holes there is a two-way tie for the lead in the fourth women’s golf major of the season. The two golfers at -11 are Gabriela Ruffels of Melbourne, Australia, and Cara Gainer of Oxford, England.

Ruffels was the round one leader, and dropped down to seventh place after round two when she posted a score of even par. Ruffels. who was -6 after 36 holes, improved to -11 after a Saturday round of five-under-par. On Friday in round two, Ruffels had three birdies and three bogeys. She birdied the seventh, ninth, and 18th holes, and bogeyed the fourth, fifth, and 17th holes. Then on Saturday, Ruffels had six birdies and one bogey. She birdied the second, eighth, 11th, 12th, 14th and 15th holes, and bogeyed the first hole.

Gainer had a first round score of three-under-par 68, a second round score of one-under-par 70, and a third round score of seven-under-par 64. On Thursday, Gainer had five birdies and two bogeys. She birdied the sixth, seventh, ninth, 14th and 15th holes, and bogeyed the 13th and 18th holes. On Friday, Gainer had two birdies and one bogey. She birdied the seventh and 12th holes, and bogeyed the 11th holes. On Saturday, Gainer one eagle, six birdies and one bogey. She eagled the seventh hole, birdied the second, fourth, eighth, 10th, 15th, and 18th holes, and bogeyed the sixth hole.

There are 11 golfers in contention. Minjee Lee of Perth, Australia, Thailand’s Jeeno Thitikul, Grace Kim of Sydney, Australia, and South Korea’s So-mi Lee are tied for third place at -10. Japan’s Yuri Yoshida and South Africa’s Casandra Alexander are tied for seventh place at -9. France’s Nastasia Nadaud, and South Korea’s Jenny Shin and Hye-jin Choi are tied for ninth place at -8. Minjee Lee is a three-time major champion as she won the 2021 Evian Championship, the 2022 United States Women’s Open and the 2025 Women’s PGA Championship.