Celine Boutier clinched her sixth title on the Ladies European Tour (LET) after securing a two-stroke victory in the Individual event at the Aramco Team Series presented by PIF – Shenzhen.
The Frenchwoman began the day in a share of the lead alongside China’s Xiyu Lin on 12-under-par on the World Cup Course at Mission Hills China.
Major winner Boutier had a flawless final day firing a bogey-free round of 66 (-7) to seal her sixth victory on Tour with a score of 19-under-par and her second victory in China.
“It was a great round,” said the Solheim Cup star. “I definitely feel like we started really hot with Janet, so it was fun to be able to battle it out.
“I’m very happy with my round, I wish a few putts dropped. I was honestly super happy with how I handled today. I feel pretty good. I like China, so hopefully I can win some more tournaments here.”
Boutier made her first birdie of the day on the second hole before rolling in another on the fifth, she then made three on the trot on holes seven, eight and nine.
It was neck and neck between Boutier and home star Lin but a birdie on 12 put the Frenchwoman one stroke ahead and she rolled in her birdie putt at the last to capture the Individual title in Shenzhen.
“It was close the whole day honestly,” she continued. “One or two shots can swing pretty fast after one hole or two, so you definitely have to be on your toes until the end. I’m super happy with the way I played the last few holes.
“I definitely felt comfortable from the first time playing the course. There are a few par-fives and good chances to have some birdies, so I took advantage of that. It was very positive, and overall, just a very enjoyable week here.
“I think I just played really solid from start to finish. The new putter really started to drop really soon into the first round, so I felt pretty confident over the last two days and I think that made the difference. Hopefully, I can build on it over the next few weeks.”
China’s Lin, who won the Individual title in Hong Kong in 2023, produced a round of 68 (-5) on the final day to fall just short of another victory.
The Olympic bronze medallist started off hot with three birdies in a row before adding another on the sixth and then the 11th hole.
However, the three-time LET winner dropped a shot on the 15th and was unable to close the gap to Boutier as she also made a birdie on the last to finish on 17-under-par.
“It was a good fight today, unfortunately my putter wasn’t very hot,” said Lin. “I actually saved it a lot by hitting it super close, but still it was just short. Celine played unbelievable, a seven-under round and bogey-free is hard to beat, especially when my putter is not on.
“I hit a really poor drive on 16 which meant I barely saved par there and when I got to 18, I was two shots behind, so I knew I had a very slim chance. I knew I had to give 100%, I hit a good drive, and it was probably one of the best 3-woods I hit all week. It’s nice, I came up just short but to hear the crowds cheering for me was pretty unbelievable.
“I played with Celine in Paris and the crowds were cheering for her and today it was me. I’m really proud of my crowds, they’re really supportive but not just to me, they also cheered for Celine a lot. I think China has tied the best crowds!”
Switzerland’s Chiara Tamburlini and France’s Pauline Roussin-Bouchard finished in a share of third place after they both fired rounds of 65 (-8) on the final day.
LET Order of Merit leader Tamburlini, who captained her Team to victory yesterday, went bogey-free rolling in three birdies on her front nine before making four in a row on holes 13 thru 16 and a final birdie at the last.
“It was an incredible round, I had a lot of fun again playing with Lee-Anne Pace today,” said Tamburlini. “I just played really solid.
“I played really solid all week I just hadn’t been making many putts on day one and day two. Today on the back nine especially my putter decided to heat up a little and I made a couple, it was really nice to see.”
Roussin-Bouchard, who won the Individual title in Singapore in 2023, had an eagle, seven birdies and a bogey on her scorecard.
“It’s been overall a pretty good week,” said the Roussin-Bouchard. “I wasn’t as comfortable with my swing early on and it got progressively better.
“It’s also the result of having such a good relationship with my caddie because we just understand each other. I don’t have to explain anything, I don’t have to do things differently and it’s just a very good balance. It allows me to be myself out there.
“It’s a good week. I was struggling also because there’s a lot of things coming up and I was really trying to focus on being in the present moment and I think I did a pretty good job.”
China’s Wenbo Liu finished in outright fifth place on 13-under-par with Italy’s Virginia Elena Carta, South Africa’s Lee-Anne Pace and Thailand’s Kusuma Meechai all one shot further back in T6.
World number four Ruoning Yin ended the week in solo ninth place on 11-under with five players one stroke further behind in a share of 10th place.
In the LET Order of Merit, Tamburlini continues to stretch her advantage at the top of the standings and now has 2,123.44 points.
France’s Roussin-Bouchard has now moved up to third place with 1,474.68 points, meanwhile with her victory, Boutier has jumped from 116th up to 34th in the standings.
Next up for the LET is the Wistron Ladies Open which takes place at Sunrise Golf and Country Club from 10-13 October 2024.
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