Celine Boutier, the top-ranked French golfer and the No.7-ranked woman in the world, knows the big stage. She has claimed six professional titles, including a major, the 2023 Amundi Evian Championship, in her home country to the roars of an adoring crowd. She has competed in the raucously tense environment of a Solheim Cup three times, helping Europe rally to wins both home and away. She has played major-championship golf for more than a decade. She even knows the gruelling layout at Le Golf National well, having trained here as part of the French national team, or “Pôle”, for a year, when she played it “almost every day”.
But she has never had a day like this.
Serenaded like the greatest of French heroes with La Marseilles to start her round, Boutier unflappably moved her way around Le Golf National’s Albatros course with a smooth seven-under 65 to take a three-stroke lead in the first round of the Olympics. Only when it was over did she appear a little breathless. South Africa’s Ashleigh Buhai shot 68 to sit second, two ahead of a pack of four golfers at two-under 70 that includes Mexico’s Gaby Lopez, Switzerland’s Morgane Metraux, Colombia’s Mariajo Uribe, and the USA’s Lilia Vu.
For the Australians, Minjee Lee fought hard to a one-under 71 to sit just six shots behind Boutier while Lee’s fellow West Australian, Hannah Green, struggled to a five-over 77.
The steady Boutier made a beaucoup of putts and scrambled like a Cyril Lignac omelette, ranking tops in up-and-downs for the first round. It was an epic first day in front of a home crowd like she had never seen before.
“I’m really over the moon with the way the tournament started for me,” said Boutier, who is on her way to becoming the most famous French Celine at these games, including Dion. “I definitely wasn’t sure what to expect today, but I was able to take advantage of a few opportunities out there.”
Boutier was steely eyed from the start, finding the fairway with her opening tee shot with thousands surrounding the first tee, French flags draped over spectators, emblazoned on tee shirts, festooned on hats and face paint.
“It’s definitely not something I’m really used to from what I usually experience on the LPGA,” she said. “But it was nice. Definitely a little bit much for me sometimes. But it’s just nice to have that many people excited about golf and about where my round is going.”
Oh, it was going. She made eight birdies, including a chip-in on the par-3 16th, and her only bogey came on the 12th hole, one of the 14 holes that played over par for the day. Of course, Boutier birdied five of those. Her 65 was nine strokes better than the field average, and she was second in strokes gained/around the green, first in strokes gained/putting, scrambling, putts per green in regulation and feet of putts made with 123.
“I tried to be a little bit more aggressive with my speed, and it definitely worked out,” she said. “I noticed a lot of my putts were on line, just sometimes a bit short, sometimes a bit too fast. But when the speed was there, it was going in. It definitely helped me out because I don’t think I hit it that close, but I was able to be within range to make a birdie chance, a birdie run. So I feel like I definitely took advantage of that.”
The challenge of a moment like this, of course, is to keep it under control. Boutier need only look men’s competition a week ago to see the two sides of that coin of adoration. Matthieu Pavon, the darling of Day 1 last week, ended up last of those who finished with three over-par rounds after his even-par start. Meanwhile, Victor Perez rallied with a final-round 63 to finish just one-stroke shy of the bronze.
“I definitely think that coming last weekend, being able to watch some of the men’s round and their tee shots and stuff first definitely helped me out,” Boutier said. “I was able to see the support and the crowd that they got, and I was able to help prepare myself for today.”
Boutier’s three-stroke lead may seem like a lot, but with Le Golf National playing much harder in more difficult, firmer and windier conditions for the women, it’s clear leads this week will be as easy to hold as two handfuls of escargot in a bouillabaisse sauce. Le Golf National will be as much a physical battle as an emotional one. Even with a par of 72, the course is already playing 4.3 strokes harder than it did for the men. Only 12 players finished under par after the first round, while in the men’s first round there were 38 sub-par scores.
“This is a little more difficult than what we’re used to, the setup,” said Lilia Vu after her opening-round 70, which included a bogey on 18 after her tee shot found the water. She stands in a five-way tie for third, or the bronze medal. “The greens are firm, and there’s a lot of island greens, and you have to place the right shots in the fairway to hit to different types of greens.
“You can’t really come out here and go on autopilot. You have to think about every single shot, where you want to end up and where’s the wind, is a little into from the right or is it off the left helping. Like all those things matter. So you have to navigate the course the best way you can.”
For the day, there were 254 scores of bogey or higher. On top of that, the mercurial 18th hole, which has been set up as a par-5 for the women after playing as a traditional par 4 last week for the men, saw scores ranging from 3 to 8, the latter coming from Boutier’s countrywoman Perrine Delacour, who put two balls in the water after finding the fairway. With as much carnage as there was relief, anyone thinking about the medal stand needs both hands on the steering wheel as they make their way through the treacherous final four holes.
What seems clear from the early going is that those who drove the ball better, much like in the men’s event, could get around the course the cleanest. Among the top 12 on the leaderboard, only two players hit less than 64 percent of the fairways and none hit less than half. Boutier, who hit nine fairways and 13 greens, seemed unfazed, like someone who has seen “Les Miserables” enough times to know who dies in the end.
“I think there’s maybe an advantage because you know what kind of course you’re expected to play and what kind of shots,” she said. “Like there’s a lot of rough, stuff like that. But I also think it’s a very straightforward course, and after you play it once or twice, you can get the gist of it as well.
“I wouldn’t say that big of an advantage, though. You still have to go out and hit the shots. Like the fact that you played it before doesn’t necessarily make you play better.”
Just another day like she’s never had before.
