Home favourite Céline Boutier stars to Lead After Day One at Le Golf National

Céline Boutier delighted the home crowds with an opening 7-under 65 that handed her a three-shot lead at the Olympic women’s golf competition.  

With big galleries gathered for the first round at Le Golf National on Wednesday, world No. 7 Boutier was inspired as she recorded eight birdies and one bogey to make a dream start in her medal pursuit. Her total equalled the lowest first-round score at the Olympics, matching efforts by Ariya Jutanugarn in 2016 and Madelene Sagstrom at Tokyo 2020. 

 

The Frenchwoman, who won her first major last year on home soil at The Amundi Evian Championship, dropped just a single shot on Wednesday en route to reaching 7-under. She leads the way over South African major winner Ashleigh Buhai.  

 

Boutier made three front-nine birdies before back-to-back gains after the turn saw her move into the solo lead. After finding a fairway bunker off the tee at the 12th, the 30-year-old dropped her lone shot of the day on the par 4.  

 

But that only appeared to refocus her mind as she then reeled off three consecutive birdies from the 14th through to the 16th, highlighted by a chip-in at the par-3 16th hole. The French star then parred the final two holes before receiving a great ovation from the waves of fans assembled around the 18th green.  

 

Buhai, who, like Boutier, is competing in her second Games after making her debut at Rio 2016, mixed five birdies with one bogey to card a 68. She grabbed birdies on the seventh and ninth holes to turn in 2-under, and Buhai was then flawless on the back nine, as a pair of birdies at the 13th and 14th helped her post a 4-under.  

 

World No. 2 Lilia Vu, who pre-tournament said a gold medal would trump her two major wins, sits in a tie for third at 2-under in a four-strong group of players that also includes Switzerland’s Morgane Metraux, Mexico’s Gaby Lopez and Colombia’s Mariajo Uribe.  

 

After a slow start that saw her bogey three of her opening seven holes, world No. 1 Nelly Korda recovered well to kick off her gold medal defense at Le Golf National with an even-par 72. 

 

Perrine Delacour of France hit the opening tee shot at 9 a.m. but later said the experience drained her and contributed to a disappointing 7-over 79.  

 

Other Notes and Quotes

• In the last two men’s and women’s golf competitions, the eventual champion did not hold the first-round lead

• Alena Sharp (T7/-1) carded three birdies in her last five holes to be one of 12 players under-par after the first round. This is her third Olympic appearance; her highest finish in her previous appearances is 30th (2016). Her countrywomanBrooke Henderson finished T30 (+2) in Wednesday’s opening round

• Diksha Dagar was 3-under heading to the 17th tee; carded two closing bogeys to sit T7/-1 at day’s end. Dagar, who has worn hearing aids since age six, is the only golfer to compete in both the Deaf Olympics and Olympic Games
• “I never thought that -- when I was playing tournaments, I had no idea what I was doing but when the people come to me, like hitting it and they are deaf like me, they ask, ‘I follow you, and it's very inspiring to see you.’ I mean, it feels so good, like it feels amazing, at least I'm walking on the right path and I want to do something better and inspire them more.”

• Aditi Ashok (T13/E) who placed fourth in Tokyo 2020 with her mom on the bag in her second Olympic appearance, shot a 72 on Wednesday; her dad is her caddie this week, as he was in 2016 for the Rio Olympics

• Rolex Rankings No. 1 and Olympic Golf Rankings No. 1 Nelly Korda (T13/E) shot a 72 in her gold medal defense; she recorded three bogeys in her first seven holes before carding three birdies on Nos. 9, 13 and 14.
• “[The atmosphere is] amazing. We were actually talking that it would be so much fun to have a Solheim Cup out here. I know the Ryder Cup was amazing, but the atmosphere was insane. I can't even imagine what it is like within Celine's group. I've heard a couple of the roars, and it's been such an amazing experience so far.”

• Frenchwoman Perrine Delacour (57th/+7) hit the first tee shot of the women’s Olympic golf competition at Le Golf National; she shot a 79
• “I got lucky to be able to hit the first tee shot at the Olympics in my home country. It was definitely a lot of emotion, and as you can see on the scorecard, I kind of left a lot of energy for the rest of the round…not crying on the first tee, that was hard. I mean, I'm just trying to do my best. I knew it was going to be a lot of emotion. But it was hard for sure when you start hearing La Marseillaise on the first tee. It was hard to stay patient and stay in the present because you really realise you're playing from France and in front of your crowd.”