Gainer and Ruffels: From the Tennis Courts to Golf Stardom at the Evian Championship
Evian-les-Bains, France – Cara Gainer and Gabriela Ruffels, who dreamed of being professional tennis players and came close to achieving it, are now in the sights of becoming winners of a major golf tournament. Gainer, from England and ranked number 129, and Ruffels, from Australia and number 71, will lead the final group of the Evian Championship on Sunday, after an outstanding third round at the fourth major of the year in women’s golf. On a splendid Saturday at the Evian Resort Golf Club, Gainer achieved a round of 64 strokes, 7 under par, reaching a total of 11 under par for the week. Shortly after, Ruffels joined at the top, with a round of 66 strokes.However, the competition is fierce in the standings.
Minjee Lee, ranked number 6 and recent winner of the Women’s PGA Championship, shot a round of 66 strokes and is one stroke behind the leaders, seeking to become the first woman since Inbee Park in 2013 to win consecutive major titles. Jeeno Thitikul, world number 2 (67 strokes), tied at 10 under par with Lee, along with Somi Lee (71 strokes) and Grace Kim (70 strokes). All of them will put pressure on Gainer and Ruffels, who have closely followed the Wimbledon tennis championship this week and finished their third rounds just before the start of the women’s singles final.Like Gainer, Ruffels had a tennis coach father and former player. Ray Ruffels was a semi-finalist at the Australian Open on three occasions and reached the mixed doubles finals at Wimbledon and the US Open with Billie Jean King in 1978. Gabriela Ruffels, ranked number one junior in Australia, won many ITF junior events in Europe, but also took up golf around the age of 14 and was the U.S. Women’s Amateur champion in 2019. Before reaching the French Alps, she made a stop at Wimbledon with her boyfriend as a guest of the retired Australian doubles great Todd Woodbridge.Tennis was, I suppose, my first love. I still enjoy it very much. I don’t play anymore, but I love watching it. Obviously, Wimbledon is on this week, so that’s my night.
Cara Gainer
It was a great experience. It was great to relax and not touch the clubs for a few days and overcome the jet lag. It seems to have worked this week.
Gabriela Ruffels
