With a steady drizzle on Saturday, the leaderboard saw the rise of several players, yet one player stood atop the leaderboard as she continued her streak of rounds in the 60s. Frenchwoman Celine Boutier fired a 4-under 67 to maintain her Friday lead heading into the final day by three strokes at -11. Boutier came quickly out of the gates with a chip-in birdie on No. 2 followed by birdies on 5, 7, and 9 to make the turn at -4. Her round slowed down as she made her only bogey of the day, and just her fourth bogey of the week, on the par-4 12th. She finished her second nine at even, thanks to an equalizing birdie on 15 to hold her second-ever 54-hole lead at a major championship.
“Yeah, I'm just going to take a lot of confidence. I feel like the past three rounds have really been three different weather conditions, and so the fact that I've been able to keep my game solid for the past three days is very positive. Just going to try to focus on that tomorrow,” said Boutier, who is looking to claim her second LPGA Tour victory of the season, and fourth of her career.
Six-time LPGA Tour winner and Japanese player Nasa Hataoka carded a second-round 67 to move her way into the final grouping with Boutier at -8. Hataoka started strong with a score of 30 on the front nine, recording six birdies, including four straight from Nos. 4-7, and one bogey on the par-4 3rd. As the round continued, she ran into speed bumps on Nos. 14 and 16 to shoot two-over on the back nine to finish out the day.
“Yeah, it was good iron shots and distance control,” said Hataoka who could become the first player from Japan to win the Amundi Evian Championship as a major on Sunday. “Then also was good too with my putting stroke, so was really comfortable.”
In third place are 2021 Amundi Evian Championship winner Minjee Lee and defending champion Brooke Henderson. Both players seemed more comfortable with Evian Resort Golf Club, firing rounds of 66 and 67, respectively, on Saturday to come within shots of Boutier. Lee’s 66 with seven birdies ties for the second-best round at Evian Resort Golf Club this week and ties for the most birdies seen in a single round among the field on Saturday. Henderson’s third-round 67 included nine-hole scores of 29 and 38, with seven birdies as well. Her front-nine score of 29 ties with 10 other players in LPGA Tour history for the lowest nine-hole score in women’s major championship.
Other notable players within the top-10 of the leaderboard are Rolex Rankings No. 2 Nelly Korda, who tied the lowest round of the week (64) on Saturday, and 2021 U.S. Women’s Open champion Yuka Saso, who maintained her spot on the leaderboard with an even-par 71 in the third round.
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