South Korea's defending champion Chun In-gee warms up ahead of the Evian Championship that starts tomorrow in France ©Getty Images

Chun In-gee returns to the scene of a historic achievement tomorrow as she tees off in defence of the Evian Championship she won last year in a total of 21-under-par – the best ever 72 hole score at a men’s or women’s major.

Her effort beat the record of 20-under-par set by Sweden's Henrik Stenson when he won The Open Championship in July and Australia's Jason Day when he claimed the 2015 PGA Championship

But the 23-year-old South Korean, also a winner at the 2015 US Open, will have her work cut out to defend her title against compatriot So Yeun Ryu, the current world number one, in the fifth and final major of the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) European tour that takes place at the Evian Resort Golf Club in France.

The 27year-old Ryu, who finished four places behind Chun last year in joint second place with another South Korean, Sung Hyung Park, is in peak form, having won twice on the circuit this season.

Park, winner of the US Open in July, will also be a strong contender for the winner’s share of US$547,500 (£414,500/€460,550) from total prize money of $3.65 million (£2.76 million/€3.07 million).

But the title will not only be contested by top-class South Korean players given the presence of the winner of last week’s IWiT Championship in Indianapolis, Lexi Thompson.

Sung Hyung Park, pictured with the US Open trophy she won in July, will be another strong challenger to the defending champion along with world number one So Yeun Ryu ©Getty Images
Sung Hyung Park, pictured with the US Open trophy she won in July, will be another strong challenger to the defending champion along with world number one So Yeun Ryu ©Getty Images

The 22-year-old American will be looking for a positive ending to a season which began traumatically for her in April as her three-shot lead in the ANA Inspiration tournament in Rancho Mirage in California - the first major event of the season - vanished with just six holes to play as she was retrospectively given a four-shot penalty for an infraction during the previous day’s round that had been originally spotted by a television viewer.

Thompson was seen to have marked her ball and then put it back in an improper place before a one-foot putt on the 17th green in the third round.

She was penalised two strokes for an incorrect ball placement and two strokes for an incorrect scorecard, and while she rallied to take the event to a play-off, she eventually lost to Ryu.

Thompson also has a good record in the Evian Tournament, having achieved three top-10 finishes so far in her career.

Other players to look out for in a tournament due to conclude on Sunday (September 17) are New Zealand's Lydia Ko and Japan's two-time Evian champion Ai Miyazato, playing in her final event on the LPGA Tour.

The former world number amassed 60 top-10s, her most recent coming at the Cambia Portland Classic where she played her final event in the US and picked up another top-five place.

Miyazato, who has not earned a major in her career, won nine times on Tour including twice in Evian before the event became a major championship.