The Evian Resort will host the Amundi Evian Championship once again in 2024. It will be the 11th time that the famous course has hosted this prestigious event, which became an internationally recognised Major Championship in 2013.
Organisers and fans will be celebrating 30 years of history, since the tournament began as the Evian Masters in 1994, prior to becoming upgraded to the official fifth major in women’s professional golf almost 20 years ago.
Ever since the event became the only Major in continental Europe, each year has offered up spectacular storylines. Norwegian Suzann Pettersen became the first winner in 2013, before the young Korean talent, Hyo Joo Kim, started in style with a major record of 10-under-par 61 in the first round in 2014 before going on to win.
In 2015, Kiwi Lydia Ko became the youngest ever winner of a major at Evian, aged 18 years, four months and 20 days. It was an all-Korean podium in 2016, when Ingee Chun collected her second major at just 22 years of age.
In 2017, it was Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist who earned the title after a play-off against Brittany Altomare in heavy rain and tough conditions. In 2018, American Angela Stanford earned the title at the age of 40. Then, in 2019, it was Korean Jin Young Ko. After a one hear hiatus in 2020, Australian Minjee Lee triumphed in 2021, followed by Canadian Brooke Henderson in 2022.
However, perhaps the best edition so far came last year, in 2023, when home grown talent Céline Boutier became the first French player to win the title, becoming an overnight superstar and changing the face of the game in France.
The 29-year-old from Clamart, Paris, won her first major championship title with a total of 270, 14-under-par, to end six strokes ahead of the 2022 champion, Brooke Henderson.
Boutier, who had already won the LPGA Drive On Championship in March 2023, became the third Frenchwoman to win a major, following Catherine Lacoste – who won the US Women’s Open as an amateur in 1967, and Patricia Meunier Lebouc, winner of the 2003 Kraft Nabisco Championship, (now renamed the Chevron Championship).
Boutier had missed the cut in the 2022 Amundi Evian Championship and her previous best finish had been a tie for 29th. She admitted that there is always more pressure when playing at home.
After the first round, when she carded a five-under 66, she trailed by two behind South African Paula Reto, but then stepped her foot on the gas to lead by two strokes on seven-under-par at the halfway point. She then went into cruise control and never flinched.
“To have a successful week, I wanted two solid rounds to pass the cut. Then I could focus on each round at the weekend,” Boutier said.
After third round, she had built a three-shot lead over Japan’s Nasa Hataoka. In the final round, she remained centred and focused, controlling herself emotionally and technically. She had missed out on a major title to Jeong Eun Lee6 at the US Women’s Open in 2019, having hit a poor bunker shot on the last green, but she wasn’t going to let this one get away easily.
When she rolled in the final putt for a par, sealing four rounds in the 60s, (69-66-67,-68), the cheers from the gallery could be heard across Lake Geneva. Her remarkable feat included making the fewest bogeys all week, with just five. What’s more, in the last round, she hit only six of 13 fairways and 14 of 18 greens, but her short game was on point, with 29 putts.
In a champagne celebration, she was hugged by her friends, who knew about the lifetime of hard work and sacrifice that it had taken to get to this point.
After accepting the trophy and her prize of US$1 million, on winning “The Evian”, Boutier said: “It honestly has been my biggest dream ever since I started watching golf. This tournament has always been very special to me, just even watching as a teenager. To be able to hold this trophy is pretty unbelievable.”
Boutier took golf into the mainstream in France. She became recognised on the street, beyond golf fans.
French fans had waited nearly two decades for a home winner and Boutier did not stop there. The following week, she won the FREED GROUP Women’s Scottish Open presented by Trust Golf, followed by the Maybank Championship, in October. She was also a member of her third victorious European Solheim Cup team. At the time of writing, she has achieved her highest ever position of third on the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings and she has no plans to stop.
“I am very pleased to have achieved my dream, but it motivates me to win more. Personally, I am not finished yet and I still have work to do,” she said. “2024 is an Olympic year, as everyone knows. I know the Albatross Course at Le Golf National, well. We have all the French championships there. The last time I played it, was at the end of 2022, with my dad and my brother. These Games are of course very important to me, but not the only thing. There are also five majors in the season and they are also a priority for me. I summary, I would say that 2024 is a season of six Majors! Am I capable of replicating what I did in 2023? Honestly, I don’t know. It is very hard to win on the Tour, in general. To have won four times was exceptional. I know that one season will not resemble another. I will just try to do my best this year. I cannot judge success against 2023. I don’t think that would be ideal. Even if my objective is to win more tournaments and more majors, a year has passed and I must look forwards.”
The French Golf Federation made a documentary about Boutier, which they titled: “The force interior.” It documents the grit and determination that it took for her to achieve her dream at Evian. After studying at Duke University, she moved to Dallas, Texas, away from friends and family to train with coach Cameron McCormack, who also coaches Jordan Spieth, at Trinity Forest Golf Club. She trained extremely hard, not only on her technique and mindset, but also physically in the gym, to reach a new level on the LPGA.
“When I first met Céline, she was one of the best amateur players in the world. She was playing at Duke University. I was at a different club, here in Dallas, Fort Worth. She was having some difficulty with short game, long game. I spent a half day with her making some recommendations,” McCormack said. “As a Senior at Duke, she had a hard time finding her swing and finding herself, her confidence. She needed to be encouraged to trust those results would come.”
The rest is history. As well as her five LET titles and three victorious Solheim Cup appearances, she now has six LPGA victories, two of which were in co-sanctioned LET-LPGA events.
The head of the French Golf Federation, Pascal Crozet, said: “Her progression has reached a new global level and she continues to give beautiful performances. It is not by chance.”
An example and a role model to others, Boutier credits her Thai parents for their part in instilling an incredible work ethic and discipline. She started playing golf at Paris Country Club aged six, with her dad and 13-year-old brother and says that her Thai background has had a lot of influence over her education, affecting her attitude to energy and work, especially when it comes to respect and humility. Now that she is self-confident, she just keeps getting better and better.
After her 2023 season, she was awarded the “Champion of French Champions” trophy by L’Equipe and received the prize “RTL Sport 2023.” She has received a lot more media attention, which she describes as positive for women’s golf in general.
“I have been surprised by the impact of my victories on the general public in France and the same for golf,” she says.
When considering whether the win at Evian changed her, she added: “To be honest, I don’t think that 2023 or my win at Evian has really changed me. I think I’m the same person. It’s true that the week of 30th July 2023 represents a lot for me, but it’s just a memory. I am still the same person.”
Watch Boutier defend her title and the stars of the game gather in the unique and beautiful environment of the Evian Resort, on July 11-14, as the start of the busy summer of major golf in Europe begins.
Two weeks, later, Boutier will be one of the star attractions in her hometown at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Could we see this European player win the gold medal? Time will tell. The champagne is on ice.
