Celine Boutier registered a win by six-stroke margin at the Evian Championship in France
Celine Boutier comfortably won the fourth women’s major of the year. The 29-year- old Frenchwoman took a three-shot lead into the final round and was never seriously threatened, eventually winning her first major title by six shots.
Here are IGW’s three take-aways from the tournament:
Boutier makes history for French Sport
Boutier is the first French woman to win her homeland major at the Evian Championship, played annually at Evian-les-Bains in French Alps. She did it in style despite + what must have been the incredible pressure of performing in front of her home fans, birdieing three of the first four holes to extend her overnight lead from three to five and won going away.
Boutier earned a cool $1 million for her victory, which is her second win of the year and her fourth career victory on the LPGA Tour. She was already the most successful French woman professional in history – no other French woman had won more than two LPGA titles. With this win, she is arguably the greatest as well.
Boutier’s success fulfils her promise demonstrated as an amateur. She won the 2012 European Amateur, the 2015 British Amateur and the 2014, NCAA college Golf Championship for the Duke University team in USA and was named the US College Player of the Year. She held the No. 1 ranking in the World Amateur Golf Rankings in late 2014 and early 2015.
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Her final-round 68 gave her a total of 14-under 270, six shots better than defending champion Brooke Henderson of Canada in second place. Like Brian Harman at the men’s ( British) Open Championship the week before, she was the only player in the field to shoot in the 60s all four rounds. Her winning margin also tied Lydia Ko (in 2015) for the largest in tournament history since the event earned major status in 2013.
Boutier’s demeanour and facial expressions did not change throughout the final round. But once the final putt was in the hole, and she had been sprayed with champagne, the tears began to flow.
“Honestly, it has been my biggest dream ever since I started watching golf”, Boutier said. “This tournament has always been very special to me, just even watching as a teenager. To be able to hold this trophy is pretty unbelievable.”
“I think nothing else matters now that I have this trophy, so I’m really good for the rest of the year,” Boutier said.
Aditi not at her best at the majors
Aditi Ashok registered a tied-42nd finish in France
Ashok shot 68 in the final round of the Evian to finish 42nd with a final score of 285 (+1 for her third consecutive made cut in a major this year after finishing 33rd in the U.S. Open and 76 th in the KPMG PGA Championship (She did not play in the Chevron).
While making the cut is obviously a positive, Ashok’s performances in the majors have been somewhat disappointing considering this has been her best season on the LPGA by far with five top-10 finishes and a near win at the JM Eagle LA Championship, where she lost in a playoff.
Aditi’s relatively poor showing at the majors could be because of the deeper fields , or maybe Ashok is putting more pressure on herself in these events? Whatever the reason, her Major results don’t reflect her form this year, or her potential.
Nelly Korda and Jin Young Ko’s battle for World No. 1
Looking smart @NellyKorda with the on 15!
Watch now on @GolfChannel #LPGAEuroSwing pic.twitter.com/xsWdagB18i
— LPGA (@LPGA) July 30, 2023
With her tie for ninth in the Evian, Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Nelly Korda of USA returned to World No. 1. She takes over from Korean Jin Young Ko, who had taken the top spot from the six foot tall Korda back in May.
Around the cup and it drops for Jin Young Ko! pic.twitter.com/wavUenAvCb
— LPGA (@LPGA) July 28, 2023
Unlike in tennis where the best players go head-to-head often (see Rafael Nadal vs Roger Federer vs Novak Djokovic), the best players in golf rarely square off directly against each other. But Korda and Jin Young have swapped the top spot in the rankings six times over the last two years. While other golfers have held the No. 1 ranking in that time period – specifically Thailand’s Atthaya Thitikul and New Zealander Lydia Ko – the rivalry between Korda and Jin Young has quietly become one of the enticing stories in the women’s game.
So far this year Korda has seven top-10s in 11 events on the LPGA Tour but has not yet won. Meanwhile Jin Young has won twice and has three other top-10s as well.
Watching them battle it out for the top spot the rest of the year should be fun. And hopefully we can also get a tournament in which they are both in contention and go head-to-head with the top spot on the line. Come to think of it, the AIG Women’s (British) Open in two weeks would be a good time for that to happen.
Credits:-
Photo – LET Flickr