By Carey Van Lue

Amundi Evian Championship

Evian Resort Golf Club | Evian-les-Bains, France | July 27-30, 2023

Final-Round Notes

July 30, 2023

Course Setup: 35-36 –71; 6,238 yards

coring Average: R1: 71.745; R2: 74.762; R3: 70.670; R4: 70.701

Weather: Dry conditions throughout the day with west to southwesterly winds between 8-15 mph and

gusts up to 20 mph in the afternoon

Race to CME Globe Points: 650 (winner)

Purse: $6.5 million (winner’s portion is $1 million)

TV/Streaming Times: How to Watch

Gaby Lopez LPGA tied for 3rd at Amundi Evian Championship July 27-23 2023.mp3

Nasa Hataoka LPGA tied for 3rd at Amundi Evian Championship July 27-30 2023.mp3

VIVE LA FRANCE: CELINE BOUTIER BECOMES FIRST FRENCH WINNER OF THE AMUNDI EVIAN CHAMPIONSHIP

French fans turned out in droves to support their countrywoman Celine Boutier as the Montrouge native captured her fourth career LPGA Tour title and first major victory on Sunday at The Amundi Evian Championship. Boutier began the day with a three-shot lead over Nasa Hataoka and quickly extended it to four with birdies on the par-4 1st and par-3 2nd holes. The 29-year-old made back-to-back pars on holes three and four and grabbed another birdie on No. 5 to move to 14-under and sit five ahead of Hataoka. The Japan native dropped a shot on the par-4 6th hole to give Boutier a six-shot advantage, but a birdie from defending champion Brooke Henderson to get to 9-under overall tightened the Frenchwoman’s lead to five with nine holes to play.

Boutier, Hataoka and Henderson each parred the 10th hole, and Hataoka got back to 9-under with a birdie on No. 11, once again five back of Boutier. Henderson dropped to 8-under after making a bogey on No. 12, and Boutier followed suit with a bogey of her own on the par-4, 13th hole, now 13-under and four ahead. A Hataoka bogey on 14 put Boutier back to five up with four holes to play, but a birdie from Henderson on 15 again closed the gap by a shot. Boutier slammed the door shut with a birdie on the par-5 15th hole, and when Henderson bogeyed 17, all the 29-year-old needed was three pars to win The Amundi Evian Championship by an incredible six shots.

“It honestly has been my biggest dream ever since I started watching golf,” said Boutier, who fired a final-round, 3-under 68 en route to victory. “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.

“(Having my family here) made it even better. I feel like they helped me this week to stay grounded and keep my mind off of golf off the golf course. It’s really sweet to be able to share it with them, and I definitely wouldn’t be here without them.”

Boutier is the fourth first-time major winner this season, alongside Lilia Vu, Ruoning Yin and Allisen Corpuz, and she is the first Frenchwoman ever to win The Amundi Evian Championship. She’s also the third LPGA Tour player from France to win a major championship, joining Patricia Meunier-Lebouc, who won the 2003 Chevron Championship, and Catherine LaCoste, who won the 1967 U.S. Women’s Open as an amateur. Boutier becomes the fourth two-time winner this season, joining Jin Young Ko, Vu and Yin, and will continue to ride this form to the fifth and final major of the year at the AIG Women’s Open in two weeks and the Solheim Cup at Finca Cortesin in September.

“I feel like golf you can always play better. I 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,” said Boutier. “It 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 a time. It was pretty challenging with the wind.

“I think nothing else matters now that I have this trophy, so I’m really good for the rest of the year.”

A LOOK AT THE CHAMPION

Rolex Rankings No. 15 Celine Boutier

• Boutier hit 6 of 13 fairways and 14 of 18 greens, with 29 putts
• She had a total of four birdies and one bogey on Sunday
  • She carded the least amount of bogeys among the field this week with only five
• She is the only player to shoot rounds in the 60s through 72 holes this week
• Her win ties for the largest margin of victory (6 shots) at the Amundi Evian Championship since it became a major
  • The only other time this has happened was in 2015 when Lydia Ko won by six shots
• The Amundi Evian Championship is now the second time that Boutier lead headed into the final round and won
  • The first time was when she won the 2023 LPGA Drive On Championship
• She is the fourth player to earn two victories so far this season on Tour
  • The three other 2023 two-time winners include Jin Young Ko (HSBC Women’s World Championship, Cognizant Founders Cup), Lilia Vu (Honda LPGA Thailand, The Chevron Championship) and Ruoning Yin (DIO Implant Open, KPMG Women’s PGA Championship)
• She is the first player from France to claim the Amundi Evian Championship title since it became a major
  • She is also the 10th different winner of this event since it was designated as a major championship
• She is the third Frenchwoman to win a major championship
  • Catherine LaCoste won the U.S. Women’s Open in 1967 as an amateur, and Patricia Meunier-Lebouc won The Chevon Championship in 2003
• This is her second time winning a professional event in France after also winning the 2021 Lacoste Ladies Open de France at the Golf du Medoc Resort in Bordeaux
• This is Boutier’s seventh appearance at the Amundi Evian Championship
  • She missed the cut in both 2015 and 2022
  • Her best finish before the win at the event was a T29 in 2014 and 2021
  • Her first-round 66 is the lowest score she has recorded in any appearance in the Amundi Evian Championship
    • Previously, her best score was a 68 during her fourth round in 2014 and her third round in 2021
  • Boutier’s 135 after day two became her new career-best 36-hole score in any major championship appearance
    • Her previous best was a 137 at the 2021 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship
    • Her 135 also is the new highest score to lead after 36 holes at the event since it was deemed a major championship
  • Her 270 is her new career-best 72-hole score in any major championship
    • Her previous best was a 276, recorded at the 2019 AIG Women’s British Open

• The Amundi Evian Championship is Boutier’s 14th event of the 2023 LPGA Tour season
  • She captured her first victory of the year at the LPGA Drive On Championship at Superstition Mountain
  • In addition to her wins, she has three additional top-10 finishes at the Honda LPGA Thailand, Bank of Hope LPGA Match-Play presented by MGM Rewards and Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational
  • Boutier has only missed two cuts this season
• This is Boutier’s seventh season on the LPGA Tour
  • She now has four victories on the LPGA Tour, the 2023 Amundi Evian Championship as well as the 2023 LPGA Drive On Championship, 2021 ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by Acer and the 2019 ISPS Handa Vic Open
  • She competed in both the 2019 and 2021 European Solheim Cup teams, and in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics
  • She earned her LPGA Tour card in 2016 after finishing T44 at LPGA Q-Series to earn Priority List Category 17 status
    • She was the first player from France to earn her card through the Epson Tour since Perrine Delacour in 2013

THINGS TO KNOW

• The final-round scoring average was 70.701, just 0.031 shots higher than the third-round average
• Defending champion Brooke Henderson is the runner-up after shooting a final-round 70
  • She made three birdies and two bogeys on Sunday
  • In Henderson’s third-round, she shot a nine-hole score of 29, tying for the lowest nine-hole score in any women’s major championship, and is the 11th time a player has recorded the score at a major
    • In Gee Chun (2016/R1, OUT) and Lee6 (2021/R2, OUT) also recorded a 29 at the Amundi Evian Championship
  • This is the best finish by a defending champion at the Amundi Evian Championship since it become a major
• Five players tied for third place including Celine Borge, Gaby Lopez, A Lim Kim, Yuka Saso and Nasa Hataoka
  • Both Borge and Lopez recorded rounds of 68 to move from a tie in ninth to a top-3 finish
  • Lopez earned her third top-10 finish this season, and her career-best result in any major championship in her career
  • With five birdies and three bogeys, Kim shot a 69 and earned her best finish major finish since her win at the 2021 U.S. Women’s Open
  • Saso, Boutier’s playing partner from last week’s Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational, shot a final-round 70
  • Hataoka, who was in the final grouping with Boutier, shot a 1-over 72, and is the only player among the five tied for third or better who recorded an over-par round on Sunday
• Nelly Korda finished in a tie for ninth, and is projected to return to the No. 1 spot in the Rolex Rankings on Monday
• Only four players went bogey-free in the final round including Jennifer Kupcho, Sarah Schmelzel and Min Ji Park
• Moriya Jutanugarn made a hole-in-one on No. 8 from 182 yards with her 6 iron
  • Her hole-in-one was the sixth in the tournament’s history
  • With the three holes-in-one made this week, this sets the record for most holes-in-ones made in one event at this major championship

QUOTABLE               

Celine Boutier (1st, -14) on her emotions after securing the win at the 2023 Amundi Evian Championship:

“Yeah, very overwhelmed. I was just looking at the names on this trophy and I just think — I don’t think I’m realizing yet. It’s been such a goal, more like a dream for so long. Yeah, just to be able to pull it off this week has been definitely unexpected. But, yeah, just over the moon.”

Atthaya Thitikul (T9. -5) as she heads into the FREED Group Women’s Scottish Open:

“Yeah, I think it’s going to be a really tough work for the next two week, especially on Scottish because I think it’s going to be so windy out there as well. And links. As I say, becoming a big fan now of links, so hopefully it’s be kind to me this year.”

Megan Khang (T9, -5) after her five-under round on Sunday:

“I think they say majors are worth more, but at the end of the day we’re all trying to win each week that we play. I always tell myself, you know, we’re going to go try our best out there and put some good rounds together, try to get a win, the first win actually. And, you know, everything kind of follows after that. And so I think if I just stick to doing my job and playing some good golf and hopefully, you know, keep playing solid, keep the game in good form, it’ll eventually lead to Solheim and hopefully even more.”

Rose Zhang (T9, -5) on her takeaways from this major:

“I feel like I’m on the right track in my mental space and navigating the entire tour life. I still feel like I have so much more improvement ahead of me which makes me excited for the learning curve and the growth development I’ll have later on.”

Esther Henseleit (T14, -4) on what this finish has done for her confidence:

“Yeah, it’s great to have this finish going into the next weeks here in Europe. As I said beginning of the week I feel really confident. I put a lot of work in over the last year to improve my game and compete in majors. Yeah, I’m looking forward to the next three weeks.”

Moriya Jutanugarn (T28, -1) walking through her hole-in-one on No. 8:

“Well, I think I hit like — you know, it’s starting a little left than where I actually wanted, but it’s just like it’s looking good. And then like because the pin is just like, you know, like past that slope down, so we couldn’t really see anything, and like I see the ball hit and then bounce. And then actually play with Hye-Jin and her dad just standing right behind green and he just like, you know, like, so basically he telling us like I made that. And I’m like, oh, nice. Yeah, was good.”

NOTABLE

Celine Boutier Highlights | The Amundi Evian Championship Round 4

Henderson Hustles, Comes Up Short in Title Defense at The Amundi Evian Championship

Moriya Jutanugarn Aces Eighth Hole on Sunday at the Amundi Evian Championship

Nasa Hataoka Highlights | The Amundi Evian Championship Rd. 4

The Amundi Evian Championship | Condensed Round 4

The Amundi Evian Championship | Round 4 Highlights

Brooke Henderson Highlights | The Amundi Evian Championship Rd. 4

TOURNAMENT SCORING RECORDS

18 holes: 61, Leona Maguire (R4, 2021), Jeongeun Lee6 (R2, 2021) and Hyo Joo Kim (R1, 2014)

36 holes: 127, Jeongeun Lee6, 2021

54 holes: 194, In Gee Chun, 2016

72 holes: 263, In Gee Chun, 2016

*Since becoming an LPGA Tour major championship in 2013