BRADENTON, Fla. — After a breakout 2023 season on the LPGA Tour, Celine Boutier is back and ready to defend her title this week at the LPGA Drive On Championship, which is being contested for the first time at Bradenton Country Club. Boutier became the winningest French player in LPGA Tour history in last year’s edition of the LPGA Drive On Championship, defeating her European Solheim Cup teammate Georgia Hall in a playoff to take home her third career LPGA Tour title at Superstition Mountain Golf and Country Club in Gold Canyon, Ariz.
Boutier then went on to capture three more titles on the LPGA Tour in 2023, winning her first major by six shots in her home country at The Amundi Evian Championship, picking up another victory the very next week at the Women’s Scottish Open at Dundonald Links and then surviving a nine-hole playoff with Atthaya Thitikul to take home her fourth victory of the season at the inaugural Maybank Championship.
The now 30-year-old ultimately finished her seventh year as an LPGA Tour member ranked second in the Race to the CME Globe and fifth on the Official Money List with $2,797,054 in season earnings. After a banner year like that, collecting trophies and high-dollar paychecks, it can be hard to turn the page to a fresh, new season and rekindle the same success you found in the past. But the LPGA Tour veteran is working hard to be where her feet are – not looking forward or back at her previous triumphs – as she readies herself for another season competing against the world’s top talent on the biggest stage in women’s golf.
“It's definitely a bit challenging because of the expectations of other people, but also of yourself,” said Boutier. “I feel like I'm trying to just keep it very much in the present. I feel like one season to another is a whole different game, so I know that it's not going to be the same. I'm just going to try to put myself in the position as much as I can and try not to have too many expectations.”
But despite trying to manage her expectations, Boutier does have plenty of goals for this season on the LPGA Tour. With a major slate that includes stops at Sahalee Country Club and St Andrews, the 2024 Olympics in Paris and the 19th edition of the Solheim Cup, there is more than enough for Boutier to look forward to in 2024, and all of the above are already on her short list as events in which she hopes to have an impact this season.
“The Olympics in Paris will be a huge week for me,” said Boutier, who represented France in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, finishing T34 in her debut in the games. “Going back to Evian will also be a challenge in some ways but also very rewarding to go back. I think playing the majors, having the (AIG Women’s) Open at St Andrews is always very special as well, so looking forward to that.”
This week though, Boutier is focused on successfully defending her title for both the first time this season and the first time in her LPGA Tour career. Bradenton Country Club is a classic Donald Ross design and will see the 120-player field deal with undulating greens and blustery breezes throughout 72 holes. And while Boutier is an athlete who enjoys competing in windy conditions, she knows that she will have to be as precise as possible with her long game and pay close attention to her putting this week if she wants to have a shot at adding a seventh victory to her already impressive resume.
“I think it's a great course,” Boutier said of Bradenton Country Club. “It's been really windy the past few days, so I think keeping the ball a bit down would be a huge advantage. Few run-off areas around the greens, so you have to be careful about where you miss and being on the right side. I think the greens are pretty fast, too, especially downhill, down grain, so definitely want to keep the ball below (the hole). I think it'll be a great challenge this week."
)
)
)
)
