Everybody struggles. Anyone who had put a peg in the ground and played under the pencil knows the feeling when your game goes away; the anxiety of pulling out a driver and having no idea where the ball is going; the frustration when a giant green looks like a kiddie pool. We’ve all felt it. And as anyone who’s played much competitive golf can tell you, it’s not the bad rounds, it’s the rounds after the bad rounds that define a player.
We call it a “bounce back,” the comeback round or tournament after an embarrassing showing. It’s a most respected title in the game, because those who play at an elite level know: Solid play after a miserable week is the mark of a professional.
Which brings us to Celine Boutier, who fired rounds of 65-69 at Dundonald Links to enter the weekend at the Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open tied for fourth at 10-under par. In a vacuum that might elicit a shrug. After all, the 28-year-old Parisian was 14-under and alone in the lead at one point during her second round. But when you consider the disappointment of Boutier’s missed cut at the Amundi Evian Championship in her home country a week ago, this is the kind of bounce back that builds character.
“Playing at home is not always easy just because you have a lot of internal and external pressure,” the two-time LPGA Tour winner said. “I feel like it's not always easy to manage the expectations.”
Players throughout history can relate. Rory McIlroy was the heavy favorite when the Open Championship returned to Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland, the course a young Rory grew up playing. Instead, he hit his opening tee shot 50 yards offline and missed the cut.
Charley Hull was the heavy favorite when the AIG Women’s Open came to her home club at Woburn. The Englishwoman did not win.
In 2013 Ariya Jutanugarn was leading her home-country’s open until the pressures kicked in and a final-hole disaster ensued.
Kris Tschetter was at the height of her career and playing great when the 1991 U.S. Women’s Open came to Colonial Country Club, a course she had played hundreds of times that was 10 minutes from her house in Fort Worth, Texas. Tschetter was also one of the only players to take lessons from Ben Hogan whose legend at Colonial looms large. Kris finished 10 shots behind Meg Mallon. On the 18th green that Sunday, Hogan met Tschetter and gave her a hug. “I wanted my name on that wall with yours,” Kris told Hogan that afternoon.
That is the problem. The pressure of hometown expectations gets a player thinking about results instead of the process that got them there.
Boutier doesn’t live in Evian. Her current home is Dallas, Texas. But she is a French favorite every time the women’s major is contested in Evian-les-Bains.
But the bounce back at Dundonald has, so far, put her in a good frame of mind – especially given the grind on Friday where she had two bogeys and a double on her 15th, 16th and 17th holes of the day only to birdie the final hole of her round to get back into double-digits under par.
“I feel like just coming here, you know, I feel like because the weather can be so unexpected, you just go ahead and you have no expectations,” Boutier said. “You go with whatever is happening, whatever, wind or no wind, rain or no rain. It helps me to just stay in the present and not focus too much, not worry too much about what could go wrong.”
Much can go wrong in links golf, where conditions can change by the second. Weather is expected to roll in over the weekend, which almost guarantees a shakeup on the leaderboard.
“I'm actually excited for that weather,” Boutier said. “I feel like I've been waiting for it coming here, and I was kind of expecting it a little bit. I think it's just going to make things more interesting and have more people in the mix.”
She said that with confidence. Bouncing back and putting disappointment behind you will do that.
)
)
)
)
