IN every way, the delightful, picturesque spa town of Evian-les-Bains on the shores of Lake Geneva is evocative of that golden age of health tourism when neatly-etched art deco billboards championed the various effects of lung-filling intakes of alpine air, revitalizing gulps of spring water and genteel rounds of golf.

It is easy to be inspired by the enchanting surrounds which provide one of the more scenic backdrops to a major championship.

“The location is so beautiful and it doesn’t matter if you make a bogey, you look around and say ‘wow’,” said Lydia Ko.

This week’s Evian Championship may be the fifth and final Major of the women’s season but it will always be remembered by Ko as a significant first.

It was here three years ago, after all, that the supremely talented New Zealander made her long-awaited Major breakthrough. Her rapid hurtle through the ranks, from winning professional events as a 14-year-old amateur, captivated the golfing world but despite eight LPGA Tour wins between August 2012 and August 2015, eager observers were still asking themselves that one big question. Just when will she win a Major title?

The weight of expectation had been considerable but Ko would take it all in her bubbly stride. The 2015 Evian Championship was the final chance for her to surpass the achievement of Morgan Pressel and become the youngest winner of a women’s Major at 18 years, four months and 20 days. Victory, which made her the youngest player, both male or female, to capture a Major since Young Tom Morris landed The Open in 1868, put an end to the questioning.

“If I won, they were not going to ask me that question anymore,” said Ko, who finished second in the Evian Championship as an amateur in 2013 in the first year of the event being a Major. “That was actually the big relief in my head. It took the pressure off me.”

The win was delivered with great pomp and purpose. A closing eight-under 63 underlined Ko’s class and she romped to a six-shot victory over Lexi Thompson to get the major monkey of her back.

“There were a couple of tear drops,” she reflected of that triumph. “I didn't totally cry-cry. But I kind of got a little overwhelmed, and I could kind of feel tears coming when my caddie said, ‘enjoy the moment’, coming down on to the green. That last round was something I’d never imagine.”

Ko will be back in south-east France for the 2018 championship which marks the 25th staging of the event. There have been 25 tournaments on the ultra-competitive LPGA circuit this season and 20 different winners. The strength in depth means the tour is something of a free for all.

“It’s extremely tough to win out here,” said Canada’s Brooke Henderson, who is one of just three players along with Ariya Jutanugarn and Sung Hyun Park to win more than once in this campaign. “Even last year, it took until June or July for there to be a repeat winner, which is crazy.”

Georgia Hall, who won her Maiden major in the Women’s British Open last month and was 10th on her debut in Evian last year, will tee-up in a confident mood while Ko, who ended a 22-month winless drought with victory on the tour in April, will no doubt be inspired by a return to her happy hunting ground. The views will help too.