Celine Boutier makes it two-in-two with Scottish Open win

Celine Boutier - TheGolfingHub
Winning in Scotland, the home of golf, was on Celine Boutier's bucket list. Photo: LET

Celine Boutier won the 2023 FREED GROUP Women’s Scottish Open Presented by Trust Golf after shooting a final round of 70 (-2).

The Frenchwoman began the day with a three-shot lead and had a steady front nine with birdies on holes six and nine at Dundonald Links.

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Boutier rolled in a birdie on 13 before making bogeys on 14 and 16, but she bounced back with a birdie on 17 which proved to be enough to seal a two-stroke victory in Scotland.

 

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“It’s completely crazy,” said Boutier. “I would have never imagined that I would be able to win not one, but two tournaments in a row. I’m just incredibly in shock. I don’t think I know what to say or what to think! I think it’s just completely out of control. I’m not sure what to think.

“There were definitely some tough shots out there, and I didn’t manage to play as well as the past three days, but I feel like that’s going to happen. It’s a long tournament, and I just tried to stay patient and stick to my game and stick to my game plan.

“I feel like both Hyo-Joo [Kim] and Maja [Stark] were playing well and, on this course, just like last year, anything can happen with a solid round. I tried to really stay patient and tried to hit some close, but it’s not always easy especially, on this course.

“It’s definitely an amazing feeling. I feel like winning in Scotland is definitely on my bucket list. The Home of Golf, to win a tournament there would have been amazing, but it’s so unexpected just because I won last week, so the odds that I would win this week are pretty low, and so I’m just incredibly in shock and very grateful.”

Korea’s Hyo-Joo Kim fired a final round of 65 (-7) to end the week at Dundonald in second place on 13-under-par.

The five-time LPGA Tour winner was bogey-free on the final day making birdies on holes three, five, eight, 11, 13, 14 and 18.

One shot further back on 12-under-par was 2023 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship winner Ruoning Yin.

The Chinese player rolled in seven birdies and one bogey on her way to a final round of 66 (-6) to finish in third place.

“Last week my driver and my approach shots were not quite me, so I think I’m just getting my game back this week,” Yin said. “Especially today, my drive and my approach shot and my ball-striking is pretty solid.

“Today I didn’t think about the score. I just tried to keep it simple, like one shot at a time and I just kept hitting my game and obviously Hyo-Joo [Kim] had a great round today. I just really enjoyed playing with her. We both went low today, so that’s pretty exciting.”

Korea’s A Lim Kim and Sweden’s Maja Stark ended the tournament in a share of fourth place on 11-under-par.

It was quite the scorecard for Stark, who secured her first ever hole-in-one as a professional on the sixth hole at Dundonald Links.

The Swede produced a final round of 71 (-1) to finish on 11-under and moved up to 16th in the 2023 Race to Costa del Sol.

Three players finished in tie for sixth place with Sweden’s Caroline Hedwall, Denmark’s Nicole Broch Estrup and Thailand’s Patty Tavatanakit all on 10-under-par.