Celine Boutier made history at the Amundi Evian Championship, becoming the first person from France to win a major in her home country, while Golf Town Athlete Brooke Henderson notched a runner-up result in her title defense.
Boutier dominated the fourth of five major championships on the LPGA Tour schedule from start to finish and won by six shots.
This was Boutier’s first major victory and her second win of the season.
Boutier had done everything there was to do in her career to this point – a three-time winner on both the LPGA and Ladies European Tour, plus a stalwart on the European Solheim Cup team – but a major win had always alluded her.
Until Sunday, that is.
Boutier notched the biggest win of her career in front of her family and home-country supporters.
“That made it even better,” Boutier said of winning in France. “I feel like (my family) definitely helped me this week to stay grounded and keep my mind off the golf, off the course. I feel like it’s definitely really sweet to be able to share it with them and I definitely wouldn’t be here without them.”
Boutier had a disastrous day with the driver, hitting just six of 13 fairways, but her ball-striking was impeccable and her mental approach to the day allowed her to stay steady – even when the pressure was on.
“I definitely feel like I was very steady all four rounds, which is very positive. Especially with tougher conditions I’m definitely very satisfied with my level and with my game this week,” Boutier said.
Boutier, who won $1 million (U.S.) as a first-place prize, shot a final-round 68 to finish at 14 under. She birdied her first two holes of the day and was steady the rest of the way. It was another windswept day on Lake Geneva and Boutier admitted it was tricky to navigate the conditions as she tried to win her maiden major.
“It definitely was not easy, but the conditions were so tough I felt like it could go either way really fast, so I just tried to stay focused on each shot and hole at time. It was pretty challenging with the wind,” Boutier said.
While it was going to be tough to beat Boutier this week, Brooke Henderson gave it a go until the very end.
After Brooke tied a major-championship scoring record Saturday (her 6-under 29 for the first nine holes was tied for the lowest nine-hole score in major-championship history) she was firmly in the mix for Sunday. While she got off to a great start she made a couple of unfortunate bogeys on the back nine.
Still, her second-place finish was her best on the LPGA Tour since her season-opening victory at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions.
She hopes it will be a big boost for the balance of her season!
“It feels great to be back in contention in the final groups on the weekend at a major championship. That’s all you can really ask for,” Brooke said. “I feel like the game has been trending for a while so nice to see some good results.”
Five golfers finished tied for third at 7 under, Gemma Dryburgh finished alone in eighth, and five golfers finished tied for ninth at 5 under. Amongst that group was Rose Zhang – who has now finished inside the top 10 in each of her three major starts as a pro – and Nelly Korda, who will ascend to No.1 in the world come Monday when the world rankings are updated.
Brooke, meanwhile, is taking next week off the LPGA Tour before preparing for the final major of the year – the AIG Women’s Open.