When her group’s walking scorer mentioned that she had just set the LPGA MEDIHEAL Championship 18-hole tournament scoring record, Celine Boutier jokingly said, “I never want to play this course again.” It was exhilaration in its finest form; a sense of defeating Lake Merced Golf Club, or the feeling of coming as close as possible to doing so. The 2019 ISPS Handa Vic Open champion fired a bogey-free, 8-under par 64 with six birdies and an eagle on the par-5 5th.
“Hit driver and then hybrid. I don’t remember exactly the distance I had to the pin, but that gave me a 20- to 25-footer and I made it,” said Boutier, who hit 15 greens in regulations on Sunday. “I feel like the first couple of hole started kind of slow, but they’re also tough holes. At the same time, I was also happy to get away with a few pars to start off the round. The eagle definitely got me a little bit of momentum.”
Boutier will skip the Meijer LPGA Classic to prepare for the third major of the 2021 LPGA Tour season—the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club from June 24-27.
“I think I'm going to rest for a couple of days because the past three weeks have been pretty tiring, to be honest,” Boutier said. “The courses have not been flat, just physically a little bit harder. Definitely rest a couple of days, but then try to get my game ready for Atlanta. I need to work on my 3-wood, haven’t been that confident with it. Also my pitching wedge, just for like yardage and distance control, so a little bit of room for improvement there.”