No Frenchwoman has ever won the Amundi Evian Championship, but Montrouge native Celine Boutier is looking to buck that trend this week in Evian-les-Bains. The 28-year-old has won in her home country before – she captured the Lacoste Ladies Open de France last September. However, notching her first major title in her native France would be on a whole other level of cool for Boutier. Her last LPGA Tour victory came at the 2021 ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by Acer, and while hoisting the trophy come Sunday is her ultimate goal, she’s trying to stay in the present moment and not get too far ahead of herself.
“I feel like the best way for me to perform is not to think about it too much; just really take it one day at a time and see,” said Boutier, who has recorded five top-five finishes and one additional top-10 so far this season. “It's so hard to win out here, so if I have at least a chance it would already be nice. If I can make it happen, it would be obviously the ultimate dream. I'm trying not to get too much ahead of myself.”
This week marks Boutier’s sixth start in the Amundi Evian Championship and it’s her fourth appearance as a professional. Her best finish is T29, a result she’s recorded twice, first in 2014 as an amateur and again in 2021 as a pro. For most pros, playing and winning in front of a hometown crowd is a lot of pressure, and although she’s done it before and has played the Evian so many times, Boutier still feels the nerves teeing it up on home soil and is hoping that her past experiences will help her keep a level head with so much on the line this week.
“I definitely feel a little bit more added pressure, but also because I want to perform well and it means a lot more to me, and so obviously if it means more you're going to have a little bit more pressure I think,” she said. “Not necessarily a bad thing, it's just something you have to learn, and I think the more you experience it the better you will be able to handle it. Now it's been six times. I hope I've learned and I can do better. It's definitely not a course I've really performed well in the past, so I'm hoping that I can change that.”