Perrine Delacour was full of emotion as she stood on the first tee at the Le Golf National on Wednesday morning.
The Frenchwoman had the honour of getting the Women’s Olympic Golf Competition underway to rapturous applause.
Delacour was able to listen to the French national anthem before getting play started at 9 am (local time) alongside Ireland’s Stephanie Meadow and Belgium’s Manon De Roey.
“I got lucky to be able to hit the first tee shot at the Olympics in my home country,” she said. “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.”
It has been a tough couple of years for the Frenchwoman who took a break from the sport in 2022 to decide whether she still wanted to be a professional golfer.
Returning to the fairways in March 2023, Delacour was consistent on the LPGA Tour and saw the opportunity to be able to play in Paris.
She attended Lalla Aicha Q-School on the Ladies European Tour (LET) in December 2023 securing her full card with future Solheim Cup hopes in mind.
As the LET’s European swing started this year, the 30-year-old headed back to Europe claiming a T12 finish at the Jabra Ladies Open before capturing her maiden title the next week at the Dormy Open Helsingborg to cement her Olympic place.
After her first round, Delacour was asked what her expectations were ahead of the first round of competition.
“Not crying on the first tee, that was hard. I’m just trying to do my best,” she explained. “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.”
Playing on home soil at an Olympic Games is a dream come true and it’s something Delacour will cherish forever.
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