Celine Boutier wins Women's Scottish Open to follow up 1st major victory
IRVINE, Scotland (AP) — Celine Boutier won the Women's Scottish Open by two strokes on Sunday to back up her victory at the Evian Championship last week for her first major title.
The No. 4-ranked French player shot 2-under 70 in her final round to clinch back-to-back wins and will head into the upcoming Women's British Open at Walton Heath in southern England with plenty of confidence.
“The home of golf ... it’s so unexpected just because I won last week,” Boutier said. "So the odds that I would win this week are pretty low, and so I’m just incredibly in shock and very grateful.”
Boutier led by three shots after the third round and also had that advantage heading down the stretch before making bogey at Nos. 14 and 16. When Hyo Joo Kim of South Korea birdied the last to post 65 and set a target at 13 under overall, Boutier's lead was down to one stroke.
However, Boutier curled in a long right-to-left putt on No. 17 and was able to walk down the par-5 18th at Dundonald Links in some comfort. She tapped in for par to finish on 15-under 273 and win for the third time in 2023, having also captured the title at the LPGA Drive On Championship in March.
“I didn’t manage to play as well as the past three days, but I feel like that’s going to happen,” Boutier said. “It’s a long tournament, and I just tried to stay patient and stick to my game and stick to my game plan.”
Kim was second while Ruoning Yin of China (66) was a shot further behind in third.
___
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
