Play on the opening day of the 2017 Evian Championship was abandoned ©Getty Images

Play on the opening day of the 2017 Evian Championship was abandoned by organisers after high winds and heavy rain swept across the Evian Resort Golf Club in France.

This means the tournament will be played over 54 holes in three days instead.

Play was initially stopped at around 10:00am local time and then abandoned for the day at 2:45pm.

Jessica Korda of the United States, who had made it through eight holes, was joint leader with world number one Ryu So-yeon of South Korea on two-under-par.

Despite their starts, the women's major will reset tomorrow.

LPGA commissioner Mike Whan expressed safety concerns as one reason why play was abandoned ©Getty Images
LPGA commissioner Mike Whan expressed safety concerns as one reason why play was abandoned ©Getty Images

"We have made the decision to scrap today and start afresh tomorrow," said Ladies Professional Golf Association commissioner Mike Whan.

"Some players will not like it, but I'll take the brunt of that.

"We have tried to get started again today, but everything is so wet that we were worried about safety."

The tee times for Friday and Saturday will be the same as those from Thursday and Friday, with the cut made after Saturday's round as opposed to Friday.