Rhodes Finds Joy as She Steps onto Evian’s Grand Stage
England’s rookie star embraces the moment at her second major start
England’s Mimi Rhodes tees it up this week at The Amundi Evian Championship, her debut at the French major and second major start in a promising rookie season on the Ladies European Tour.
The 23-year-old, already a three-time LET winner, arrives at the Evian Resort Golf Club determined to savour the experience after narrowly missing the cut at her first major, the KPMG Women’s PGA in June. “It’s so exciting to be here,” said Rhodes. “I think I’m just going to learn from it, have fun and see where it takes me.”
“I didn’t enjoy my game as much lately, and it’s such a mental sport,” she added. “This week it’s about enjoying it, making birdies, being grateful that this is my job and I’m not in an office somewhere.” Rhodes leads the LET Order of Merit and credits her family — her mother is with her this week — for keeping her grounded.
The Evian course is familiar to Rhodes from her Jabra Ladies Open appearances, though she expects the conditions to play firmer and drier than she’s seen before. She plays her opening round tomorrow at 1:48pm local time alongside Spain’s Azahara Muñoz and America’s Alexa Pano.
As she summed up after her first practice round: “It feels surreal seeing all the big names, but at the end of the day, they’re just normal people too. It’s nice to finally feel like I belong.”