So in Celine Boutier, France can finally celebrate a winner of the Evian Championship! Boutier never looked like shipping the lead she immediately extended at the start of her final round, serenely progressing around the Evian Resort and ending the week with four sub-70 rounds, the only player to do so. A thorough and systematic dismantling of the rest of the field. Brooke Henderson will be proud of her title defence, while Gaby Lopez, Celine Borge and Gemma Dryburgh posted career-high major finishes. But this is all about Boutier, who has become France’s fourth major-winning golfer of all time. Congratulations to Boutier … and thanks for reading this live blog. See you again for the final day of the British Open!
-14: Celine Boutier
-8: Brooke Henderson
-7: Gaby Lopez, Celine Borge, Kim A-lim, Yuka Saso, Nasa Hataoka
-6: Gemma Dryburgh
-5: Atthaya Thitikul, Megan Khang, Kim Su-ji, Rose Zhang, Nelly Korda
-4: Jennifer Kupcho, Esther Henseleit
-3: Morgane Matraux, Stephanie Kyriacou, Linn Grant, Minjee Lee
A delighted Boutier then gives a shout out to her family. “They helped me stay grounded … it’s really sweet to be able to share it with them … I wouldn’t be here without them … in golf you can always play better but I was steady in all four rounds … I was satisfied with my game this week … nothing else matters now I have this trophy, so I am really good for the rest of the year!” She is absolutely beaming, certain to enjoy this moment, the fulfilment of a long-held dream. A class act both on and off the golf course, and a most deserving champion.
Celine Boutier is handed the Evian Championship trophy and immediately collared for interview. “It definitely was not easy … the conditions were so tough … it could go either way really fast so I tried to just focus on each hole at a time … it was pretty challenging with the wind … I handled the first few holes really well … the putt on 2 was a big bonus … honestly this has been my biggest dream since I started watching golf … this tournament has always been very special to me, even watching as a teenager … to be able to hold this trophy is pretty unbelievable!”
That’s a sensational final round of 68 by Celine Boutier. She was in complete control all the way around. Some tears of joy. Yuka Saso was one of the folk who drowned her in champagne. Simply delightful scenes. She goes off to the scorer’s hut to make sure her card is in good order. France has its first Evian champion, and only its third major winner in history, behind Catherine Lacoste (1967 US Open) and Patricia Meunier-Lebouc (2003 Dinah Shore). Factor in 1907 Open winner Arnaud Massy, the only French man to win a major, and you realise how rare and precious Boutier’s achievement is for fans of French golf!
Celine Boutier wins the 2023 Evian Championship!
In goes the par putt! A huge smile! The crowd erupts! On come some champagne wielding pals, who absolutely douse her in the stuff. What a celebration! The Evian finally has a home champion!
-14: Boutier
-8: Henderson
-7: Lopez, Borge, A Kim, Saso, Hataoka
Updated
First up, Nasa Hataoka wedges to a couple of feet. That’s a sensational finish to an otherwise underwhelming day for the 24-year-old Japanese star. She’ll tidy up for birdie and a share of third place at -7. Celine Boutier then finds the heart of the green … and nearly spins her wedge back into the water guarding the front right! Some pantomime oohs from the crowd before the ball stops safely on the green and she walks up to another wild ovation. Boutier sends her first putt five feet past, Hataoka taps in, and leaves the stage to France’s new major champion …
Celine Boutier doesn’t have a great lie. But it really doesn’t matter. She lays up carefully and finally allows herself an excited smile as she walks up the fairway to a great ovation from the French gallery. One solid wedge in, and any lingering doubts circling her head will be gone.
Brooke Henderson chips to 12 feet. She can’t make the birdie putt, but par will suffice. A final round of 70, and once the dust settles, the Canadian will be very proud of her title defence. She’s -8 and will finish the week as runner-up.
-14: Boutier (17)
-8: Henderson (F)
Brooke Henderson’s sole ownership of second spot, then. It’s in a little bit of jeopardy right now, because from the centre of the 18th fairway, she’s just sent a big hook into the gallery down the left. Meanwhile back on the tee, the champion-elect misses yet another fairway to the left, but only just. Won’t be long now.
It’s not been Nasa Hataoka’s day either. Her approach into 17 bounces down a swale to the left of the green, and a weak chip up means she’s not scrambling par. A third bogey in four holes and she slips to -6. No such problem for Celine Boutier, who nearly drains a monster left-to-right birdie putt up and over a ridge running through the middle of the green. No matter! Par will do, and she’s got a six-shot lead going up the last. Mentions of compatriot Jean van de Velde are strictly forbidden.
-14: Boutier (17)
-8: Henderson (17)
It’s not been Nelly Korda’s day, but she finishes with a par after pouring in a 15-foot saver. A 72 to follow up yesterday’s sensational 64. She exudes disappointment after ending the week at -5.
Boutier sends her second at 17 into the heart of the green. She’s left with a long two putts for par, but once again that’s the safe play. Meanwhile up on 18, it’s a par for Yuka Saso who ends the week at -7.
Celine Boutier sends her tee shot at 17 into the longer stuff down the left. That’s been her miss for most of the day. It hasn’t cost her so far, though. It probably won’t cost her here, either; better to miss on the left than on the right, where Brooke Henderson found herself blocked out. And up on the green, Henderson misses her par putt on the low side, and she’s now battling to retain sole ownership of second place.
-14: Boutier (16)
-8: Henderson (17)
-7: Lopez (F), Borge (F), A Kim (F), Saso (17), Hataoka (16)
Boutier doesn’t quite give her birdie putt enough oomph. One more heave and it was in. But she’s more than happy to tap in for par. She remains five clear with two to play … and while Henderson wedges a fine third at 17 to six feet, the Canadian will need to make the putt if all the Is and Ts aren’t to be dotted right here, right now.
Kim A-lim makes her third birdie of the week on 18 – she eagled it yesterday – and ends with a 69. She joins the current clubhouse leaders at -7.
Celine Boutier is three competent holes from glory. But she’s more than competent. She’s been brilliant. Oh, and the golfing gods have been with her today. Everyone needs a little luck to win a major, and she gets hers at the par-three 16th, her tee shot only just getting over the creek at the front, but then bouncing off the hill to the right of the green, the camber gathering her ball to 12 feet. This is so close to being over … especially as Brooke Henderson finds herself blocked out by some overhanging branches down the right of 17 and can only chip sideways. France prepares to get a major party started.
Henderson nearly teases the downhill 30-footer that remains into the hole. A big left-to-right swinger shaves the cup and refuses to drop .. and then back on 15, Boutier gets up and down for her first birdie in ten holes! Hataoka misses a short par putt and for the second major championship in a row, it’s a Sunday nightmare for the Japanese star. Boutier is so close now.
-14: Boutier (15)
-9: Henderson (16)
-7: Lopez (F), Borge (F), Saso (16), Hataoka (15)
Brooke Henderson really needs everything to go her way now if she’s going to have any chance of nicking the tournament from under Celine Boutier’s nose. But her tee shot at the par-three 16th, creamed deliciously straight at the flag, takes a hard bounce and, with the wind also conspiring against her, the ball rolls onto the fringe at the back. That deserved better.
… but Boutier doesn’t appear to be in the mood to give up any ground. She creams a fairway wood towards the green, the ball stopping just short of the dancefloor. This is the position from where Henderson just got up and down for her birdie. Boutier will fancy her chances of doing the same.
Celine Boutier finds the fairway from the par-five 15th tee. Nasa Hataoka meanwhile sends her ball behind a tree out to the right and is forced to punch out. Her ball flies into the rough on the other side of the fairway. Meanwhile up the hole, Brooke Henderson sends a distinctly average chip into the green … but then steers in the right-to-left curler from ten feet for a birdie she really had to make. Not over quite yet.
-13: Boutier (14)
-9: Henderson (15)
-8: Hataoka (14)
-7: Lopez (F), Borge (F), Saso (15)
Updated
Birdie at 18 for Gemma Dryburgh. The 30-year-old Aberdonian signs for a second 69 of the weekend, and she’ll be finishing in the top ten at a major for the first time in her career. This is by some distance her best showing at one of the big ones … and what a time to do it, with the Solheim Cup on the horizon!
Birdie at the last for Celine Borge. A 68 and the 24-year-old Norwegian will finish in the top ten on her Evian debut. She’s got a share of the clubhouse lead with Gaby Lopez at -7. Meanwhile a costly bogey for Nasa Hataoka, the punishment for sending her tee shot at the par-three 14th miles to the right of the green. I said this was a three-woman tournament now, and while that’s technically still the case, it’s really beginning to feel like a one-woman show now. It kind of always has.
-13: Boutier (14)
-8: Henderson (14), Hataoka (14)
-7: Lopez (F), Borge (F), N Korda (15)
Eagle at 15 for Nelly Korda. She’s too far off the pace for that to be any good to her – she’s -7 – but she could sell that for cash money to the members of the leading pack.
Gaby Lopez is the new clubhouse leader. She rolls in a 20-foot birdie putt on 18 to sign for a wonderful final round of 68. It promised more, too, but this is going to be her highest finish in a major. Meanwhile Yuka Saso responds to dropping a shot at 14 with a bounce-back birdie at 15.
-13: Boutier (13)
-9: Hataoka (13)
-8: Henderson (14)
-7: Lopez (F), Saso (15)
-6: Borge (17), A Kim (15)
Brooke Henderson isn’t releasing her grip on the trophy just yet. Having made a disappointing bogey on 13, she looks like making another after coming up short at the par-three 14th then hitting a hot chip 12 feet past the hole. But she rolls the par saver into the heart of the cup. Realistically, this is a three-woman tournament now.
Boutier gives her par putt a good rattle, but it drifts off to the right on its last couple of turns. It’s her first bogey of the day, and her first in 19 holes. The lead is down to four, because Hataoka makes her par. I did the 24-year-old from Japan a disservice back there; her chip ended up a good deal closer and she tidies up easily enough.
-13: Boutier (13)
-9: Hataoka (12)
-8: Henderson (13)
Boutier wedges pin high, but a good 20 feet to the left of the flag. She’ll have work to do if she’s not to make her first bogey of the day. Hataoka could do with getting up and down here … but she underhits her chip and leaves a very missable five-footer for her par. Couple of big putts coming up.
Boutier’s tee shot at 13 finds a bunker down the right. She’s not up against the lip, though, and is able to take a shy for the green … but she takes too much sand and leaves herself 100 yards short of the dancefloor. Hataoka gets greenside but in thick rough, so doesn’t apply much in the way of matchplay-style pressure. Meanwhile Saso misses a short par putt on 14 to drop back into the pack at -6.
Brooke Henderson’s approach to 13 is a club short. She makes the fringe … then nearly drains the long birdie putt. But it’s always just missing to the left. She remains at -8. With holes running out, it looks as though her defence is going to come up slightly short as well.
Celine Boutier continues to do very little wrong. She doesn’t need to take any unnecessary risks, it’s time for percentage golf. No point aiming for tight flags, just send the ball into the heart of the green. Her dependable putter does the rest. Two putts at 12 and there’s another hole ticked off.
Brooke Henderson can’t make her par on 12. This hole has really cost the Canadian this week: she made bogey on Thursday as well, and a double yesterday. Bogey for Minjee Lee, too, her fourth in six holes. But up on 13, a fourth birdie of the day for Yuka Saso, and suddenly the top of the leaderboard looks a little different. Not the very top, obviously, but you get the point.
-14: Boutier (11)
-9: Hataoka (11)
-8: Henderson (12)
-7: Saso (13)
-6: Lopez (16), Kim A-lim (13)
The 2020 US Open champion Kim A-lim is this close to pouring in a birdie putt on 13. It would have been her third in four holes. She’s -6. Meanwhile Gaby Lopez seriously pulls her birdie putt on 16. Almost straight left the second it left the face of the bat. She leaves a tricky six-footer with a testing left-to-right break … and her flat stick continues to misbehave. Another miss to the left, and a birdie chance turns into bogey. She slips back to -6.
Updated
Brooke Henderson finds herself up against the face of a fairway bunker on 12 and is forced to take a large gulp of medicine. She splashes out then sends her third into the heart of the green. She’ll have to make a 25-footer to save her par. Meanwhile up on the par-three 16th, Gaby Lopez fires an arrow straight at the flag and will have a look at birdie from eight feet to consolidate her fourth-place position.
Celine Boutier has what appears to be an easier birdie putt than the one just drained by Hataoka … but golf doesn’t work like that, does it. It slips by from ten feet and the leader remains five clear at -14. Meanwhile the new sensation Rose Zhang birdies the last for a 68, and she joins the group of clubhouse leaders at -5 alongside Atthaya Thitikul, Megan Khang and Kim Su-ji.
Nelly Korda shot a wonderful 64 yesterday to get herself into contention. But a slow start today – bogeys at 1 and 4 - scuppered her bid almost immediately. She makes birdie at 12, her first of the day, to return to -5 but doesn’t really bother celebrating it. Also not celebrating birdie much: Nasa Hataoka, who curls in a 25-footer on 11 to join Brooke Henderson in second place at -9.
Nobody is taking a serious tilt at Celine Boutier. Brooke Henderson has a decent birdie chance at 11 but the left-to-right curler from 12 feet is always missing on the high side. She remains -9, five behind the leader.
Boutier continues to display wizardry around the greens. Another crisp chip, up and over the bank, landing precisely on the green and rolling out to kick-in distance. She remains five clear. This is a procession right now.
-14: Boutier (10)
-9: Henderson (10)
-8: Hataoka (10)
-7: Lopez (14)
Boutier is within her rights to take relief, as she’s standing on the cart path. But the lie is as good as can be expected in the rough, so she’ll hit what she finds. And though she misses the green, short and right, it’s the place Henderson found herself a couple of minutes ago. A very makeable chip coming up.
Boutier screams in anguish as she sends yet another shot wide left, this time from the 10th tee. “No!” But she gets a good break as her ball, which looks to be heading deep into the woods, clips back off a tree and stops by a cart path. She’ll have a line in from there. Meanwhile up on the green, Henderson nearly holes her chip but settles for par. Some fine scrambling.
-14: Boutier (9)
-9: Henderson (10)
-8: Hataoka (9)
-7: Lopez (13)
-6: Saso (11)
OK, Boutier can’t make the birdie putt, but she’d surely have grabbed a par with both hands when she discovered her lie to the side of the green. The par means she’s traversed the front nine in 32 strokes and remains five in the lead. Par for Hataoka. Meanwhile up on 10, Henderson is able to advance her ball to a greenside position. She’ll need to get up and down from the bottom of a swale to scramble her par, but it’s a decent result given the wildness of her drive.
It’d be easy for Boutier to make a narrative-shifting mistake from here. The lie isn’t good, she’s got sand to cross, and not much green to play with. But she lobs calmly and softly onto the green, 12 feet from the pin. She’ll have a great look at birdie. What a chip that was. Her short game has been amazing all week.
Boutier will have witnessed Henderson making her birdie, from her position halfway down the 9th fairway. When the green is cleared, she pulls a fairway wood wide left and into thick rough. She’s short-sided and behind a bunker. Up and down for birdie would be some achievement from there. Meanwhile up on 10, Henderson sends her tee shot into trees down the right and near an out-of-bounds fence. She’s still on the property but won’t have much of a route into the green.
Updated
The defending champion Brooke Henderson nearly drains a long eagle putt on 9. Birdie will suffice, though, and she’s out in 33 strokes. A little dent has been made into Boutier’s lead.
-14: Boutier (8)
-9: Henderson (9)
-8: Hataoka (8)
-7: Lopez (12)
-6: Lee (9)
Boutier crashes her drive at 9 down the middle. This has been a masterclass so far from the leader. A reminder that nothing’s won yet, though, as Jeongeun Lee6 and Lexi Thompson can attest.
A fuss-free par at the par-three 8th for the leader Celine Boutier. She really hasn’t put a foot wrong so far. She remains six clear at -14.
Par for Megan Khang at 18 and she signs for a final round of 66. She ends the week at -5 and joins Atthaya Thitikul in the clubhouse lead. Meanwhile having missed a short putt for bogey on 7, Minjee Lee pulls another tiddler on 8. A three-putt bogey and in a flash, the 2021 champion’s race is as good as run. She’s -6.
Boutier’s third at 7 is short of the green and wide right. She’s down the bottom of a swale and short sided. Not much green to play with at all. But she crisply and carefully wedges to three feet. She’s met every challenge so far, and ticks off another here. Par. Just a par for Hataoka, who had a good look at birdie from 15 feet but the putt never looked like dropping. A chance to apply a little bit of scoreboard pressure to the runaway leader goes by.
-14: Boutier (7)
-8: Henderson (7), Hataoka (7)
Boutier sends her tee shot at 7 into the trees down the left. She’s got herself out of a couple of sticky situations already today without too much fuss, but here comes another test. She’s close to a tree but has a full swing and can get past it. She sends a gentle draw around it and while her ball finds the second cut on the other side of the fairway, she’ll have a chance of reaching the green in regulation. A warning for her up on the green, though, where Minjee Lee is unable to secure par having previously found herself in a similar position to Boutier. A short putt lips out. Bogey also for Gaby Lopez, who overhits a greenside lob at 10 and can’t chip in from the other side to save par. A first backwards step of the day for the Mexican.
-14: Boutier (6)
-8: Henderson (7), Hataoka (6)
-7: Lopez (10), Lee (7)
Just (!) a par four for Celine Boutier on 6. She looks disappointed after letting a 15-foot birdie putt slide off to the right, but surely would have taken that result after the wayward tee shot. A fine second powered into the heart of the green saved her bacon. In any case, her lead is now six, because Nasa Hataoka misses the green with her approach, duffs a chip, and can’t save her par with a putt from the fringe. Hataoka suffered a torrid final round at Pebble Beach in this year’s US Open, going into it leading only to shoot a dream-wrecking 76; more Sunday disappointment appears to be on the cards right now.
-14: Boutier (6)
-8: Lopez (9), Lee (6), Henderson (6), Hataoka (6)
Gaby Lopez birdies 9. But for that bobble on 7, she’d be hitting the turn in 30 strokes. Still, a front nine of 31 represents fine work, a six-shot improvement on yesterday. She grabs a share of third alongside Brooke Henderson and Minjee Lee at -8. Meanwhile there’s a new clubhouse leader in Atthaya Thitikul, who comes home in 30 strokes for a 65 to end the week at -5. The 20-year-old Thai is surely a major champion of the future, with top-five finishes at the Evian, the PGA and the Dinah Shore already on her resumé. Her last six holes today: 3-3-3-3-3-4. Three birdies and an eagle. What a talent!
Updated
The chasing pack have to make a move soon, or they’ll be wholly dependant on Boutier slipping up. A glimmer of hope for them as the leader’s drive at 6 finds the thick rough down the left. Meanwhile up on the green, Minjee Lee sticks her approach to four feet and tidies up for a birdie that brings her into a tie for third … only to send her tee shot at the par-five 7th into the trees on the left.
-14: Boutier (5)
-9: Hataoka (5)
-8: Lee (6), Henderson (6)
-7: Lopez (8)
“GET IN!” A holler from the gallery as Celine Boutier pours in a birdie putt from 15 feet on 5. Just the par for Nasa Hataoka and the home favourite is five clear. She nearly allows a little smile to play across her face, but fights it. She’s not taking anything for granted. But this tournament is hers to lose now.
-14: Boutier (5)
-9: Hataoka (5)
-8: Henderson (5)
-7: Lopez (8), Lee (5)
Jennifer Kupcho cards 66 to post an early clubhouse lead of -4. A second round of 75 proved costly for last year’s Dinah Shore champion. Meanwhile the leader keeps on keepin’ on, firing a dart at the flag at the par-three 5th. She’s inscrutable at the best of times, and is calmness personified right now. You wouldn’t know she’s fighting for her first major championship.
Boutier’s birdie putt on 4 oscillates along its line. A gentle side-to-side wobble. It looks like dropping, but slides right at the last and lips out. Just a par. Two careful putts for Hataoka as well. Meanwhile bogey for Yuka Saso on 6, the result of a wild drive. The 2021 US Open champion slips back to -5. There’s a little bit more separation at the top now.
-13: Boutier (4)
-9: Hataoka (4)
-8: Henderson (5)
-7: Lopez (8), Lee (5)
-5: Khang (15), Borge (7), A Kim (6), Saso (6)
Boutier sends her second at 4 wide left of the green, but she knows what she’s doing. It’s the smart miss. The hill sends the ball kicking 90 degrees to the right, and the camber of the green gathers it to 15 feet. She’ll have a decent look at birdie. Hataoka meanwhile lands her approach on the dancefloor, but she’s not getting such a significant kick right from there, and her ball stops softly, a good ten feet outside her playing partner.
Updated
Small Margins dept. Gaby Lopez rolls a birdie effort straight at the hole from 15 feet on the par-five 7th. It looks all the world like her fourth birdie of the round already, but the ball takes a bobble halfway along its route and the loss of energy does for the putt. It stops short and it’s just a par. That’s awful luck. She remains at -7 and these are the little things that can decide the destiny of major titles.
The defending champion Brooke Henderson makes her first move of the day. She rolls in a 25-foot left-to-right curler on 4 to move into third spot at -8. Back up on the tee, the leader Celine Boutier cracks a drive down the fairway. Nasa Hataoka flirts with a bunker down the right but her ball stops in the first cut and will be absolutely fine.
Hataoka chips up to six feet and leaves herself an uphill putt. She pours it into the centre of the cup to save her par. Boutier also lobs to six feet, but she’s got a slight dribbler coming downhill. No matter, though, because she guides the left-to-right slider into the hole and her impressive start continues. Par.
-13: Boutier (3)
-9: Hataoka (3)
Boutier doesn’t really take advantage of her good break down the left of 3. Another yard to the left and she’d have been in all sorts of knee-high bother, but she’s landed on some relatively short grass. But her second takes a flyer and bounds over the back of the green. Hataoka whistles her second into the heart of the green but it bounds off down a swale to the right of the green. Both players in the final group have some work to do to get up and down for their par.
Nelly Korda shot a fine 64 yesterday, but she’s moving in the wrong direction today. A second bogey of the day already, this time at 4, and the 2021 PGA champion is quickly falling out of contention.
Boutier will probably have to stumble if the chasing pack is to have any chance. She pulls her tee shot at 3 towards trouble on the left, but her ball rests between a bunker and some extremely long grass. She might have got away with that, but she peers after it with concern etched across her face anyway. Hataoka finds the short stuff.
Only one other player has started birdie-birdie like Boutier today, and that’s Gaby Lopez, who now makes a third birdie of the day, this time at 6. The 29-year-old Mexican, who has never really featured in the majors before, is right in this at -7.
Nasa Hataoka is this close to making another birdie, at the par-three 2nd. Her tee shot isn’t worth writing home about, but she tickles a 40-footer down the slope and her ball shaves the left lip. But there’s no mistake from Celine Boutier, who drains a putt of similar distance, a gentle right-to-left slider, and it’s a birdie-birdie start!
-13: Boutier (2)
-9: Hataoka (2)
Should Boutier win today, she’ll become the first French winner of the Evian. She’d also become just the third French woman to win a major championship, after Patricia Meunier-Lebouc, who won the Dinah Shore in 2003, and Catherine Lacoste, who won the US Open as an amateur in 1967. She’d also become the 21st different winner of a major in the last 22 tournaments! The only player to double up during that period: 2021 Evian and 2022 US Open champion Minjee Lee, who is very much in the hunt for her third major title today.
A fast start for Celine Boutier! Having split the fairway with her opening tee shot, she sends a gentle draw into the heart of the green and then rolls in the ten-foot putt that remains. The home crowd, desperate for a maiden French victory in this tournament, roars its approval. She moves to -12 … though Nasa Hataoka remains on her heels by making a carbon-copy birdie herself. That’s a big message sent to the rest of the field.
-12: Boutier (1)
-9: Hataoka (1)
-7: Henderson (1), Lee (1)
The final match takes to the tee, so this is very much on. The leader Celine Boutier crashes a drive down the middle of 1, and Nasa Hataoka follows her. It’s a sunny but very blustery day at the Evian Resort Club, where a few players have made some early moves. Gaby Lopez is two under for her round through 4, having birdied the opening two holes. Kim A-Lim has birdied 2. Kim Su-ji had reached the turn in 31 blows, with birdies at 1, 5, 7 and 9, but has bogeyed 10 to lose a little of that early momentum. An opening bogey for Nelly Korda, though. Here’s the revised leaderboard.
-11: Boutier
-8: Hataoka
-7: Henderson (1), Lee (1)
-6: Lopez (4), A Kim (2), Saso (2)
-5: Korda (2)
-4: S Kim (10), Borge (4), Dryburgh (4), Vu (3), Yin (3)
Preamble
Celine Boutier very nearly drained a sizeable birdie putt on the 18th yesterday afternoon. Had she done so, the 29-year-old would have been four shots clear of the field at Évian-les-Bains, and almost a shoo-in to become the first-ever French winner of the fourth major in the women’s calendar. But a three-shot 54-hole lead won’t feel quite so insurmountable to the rest of the field. Just ask Minjee Lee, who two years ago started the final round seven shots behind Jeongeun Lee6 yet went on to lift the trophy.
Boutier has the chops to land her maiden major title; she’s got top ten finishes in all the other majors and this could be her time to make the ultimate leap. But she’s got some big names on her tail. Nasa Hataoka, who came so close to winning the US Open in 2021. Yuka Saso, who pipped Hataoka that year. The aforementioned Lee. The reigning champion Brooke Henderson. Other previous Evian winners in Kim Hyo-joo and Anna Nordqvist; previous major champions in Nelly Korda, Kim A-lim, Lilia Vu, and Patty Tavatanakit. Oh, and Leona Maguire, who shot 61 here on Sunday a couple of years ago.
So this could be the second major-championship procession in a week. But it could easily turn out very differently. The last pair will tee it up at 12.25pm local time, 11.25am BST; meanwhile here’s how the top of the leaderboard looked at the start of the day. Let’s get out there, then. It’s on!
-11: Celine Boutier
-8: Nasa Hataoka
-7: Minjee Lee, Brooke Henderson
-6: Nelly Korda, Yuka Saso
-5: Kim A-lim, Alison Lee
-4: Angel Yin, Lilia Vu, Gemma Dryburgh, Celine Borge, Gaby Lopez
-3: Kim Hyo-joo, Leona Maguire, Anna Nordqvist, Hsu Wei-ling, Linn Grant, Patty Tavatanakit
