Six-time LPGA Tour winner Celine Boutier is lurking one stroke behind 54-hole leader Jeeno Thitikul with 18 holes remaining at the Mizuho Americas Open.

After opening with a 6-under 66 on Thursday and then grinding out a 1-under 71 on what was a rainy, chilly Friday at Liberty National Golf Club, the Frenchwoman took advantage of the milder weather on Moving Day in Jersey City, N.J., firing another 66 to sit alone in second at 13-under for the tournament.

She started round three strong with a birdie on the par-3 2nd hole and then made another on the par-5 6th hole to move to 9-under overall, but Boutier dropped back to 8-under after making her only bogey of the round on the ninth hole. The major champion recovered quickly from that mistake, though, with a birdie on 10 and picked up another birdie on 12 to climb to 10-under with six holes to play.

Boutier then got on a hot streak, rattling off three consecutive birdies on the par-4 15th, 16th and 17th holes before closing out her round with a par on the last hole at Liberty National to post a 66, leaving her just one shot off Thitikul’s pace entering the final round.

“I knew coming in it was going to be a difficult round because of how strong the wind was,” Boutier said. “I was able to stay patient. I had a birdie on 2, which kind of got me going. I really stayed pretty steady. I was able to get a few birdies on the back nine, which helped me out quite a bit. Very satisfied with my round.”

Boutier will be searching for her first victory since the 2023 Maybank Championship on Sunday in the Garden State, a win that was one of four titles she collected over the course of that season. Ironically enough, her last win on the LPGA Tour saw Boutier triumph over Thitikul after the pair battled it out in a nine-hole playoff at Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which tied the record for the second-longest sudden-death playoff in Tour history, dating back to 1972.

Boutier has played in every available event on the LPGA Tour so far this season and has racked up four top-20 finishes in 2025, two of which are top-10 results that came at the Founders Cup presented by U.S. Virgin Islands (T7) and the T-Mobile Match Play presented by MGM Rewards. She has played in the two previous editions of the Mizuho Americas Open, missing the cut in 2023 and tying for 21st in 2024, two performances Boutier is already well on her way to improving upon in her third appearance in this event.

Considering she hasn’t been within five of the lead entering the final round since the Maybank Championship last October, a tournament in which she ultimately tied for 12th, Boutier is relishing this long-awaited opportunity to contend for her seventh career victory at Liberty National Golf Club. And after carding two 66s at this challenging venue and surviving the less-than-ideal conditions that plagued the field on Friday, the 31-year-old has plenty of positives on which to sleep ahead of Sunday’s final round and will be working to fire another solid number as she tries to chase down Thitikul and join Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 1 Nelly Korda and two-time Tour winner Rose Zhang as the third champion of the Mizuho Americas Open.

“Very happy with where I am at today and going into tomorrow,” Boutier said. “Tomorrow is going to be another challenge. It's supposed to be a bit less windy. I'm assuming the scores are going to be kind of low, too. We'll see what happens, but happy to be in this position.”

Celine Boutier One Shot Back at Mizuho Americas Open

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