Celine Boutier very nearly drained a sizeable birdie putt on the 18th yesterday afternoon. Had she done so, the 29-year-old would have been four shots clear of the field at Évian-les-Bains, and almost a shoo-in to become the first-ever French winner of the fourth major in the women’s calendar. But a three-shot 54-hole lead won’t feel quite so insurmountable to the rest of the field. Just ask Minjee Lee, who two years ago started the final round seven shots behind Jeongeun Lee6 yet went on to lift the trophy.
Boutier has the chops to land her maiden major title; she’s got top ten finishes in all the other majors and this could be her time to make the ultimate leap. But she’s got some big names on her tail. Nasa Hataoka, who came so close to winning the US Open in 2021. Yuka Saso, who pipped Hataoka that year. The aforementioned Lee. The reigning champion Brooke Henderson. Other previous Evian winners in Kim Hyo-joo and Anna Nordqvist; previous major champions in Nelly Korda, Kim A-lim, Lilia Vu, and Patty Tavatanakit. Oh, and Leona Maguire, who shot 61 here on Sunday a couple of years ago.
So this could be the second major-championship procession in a week. But it could easily turn out very differently. The last pair will tee it up at 12.25pm local time, 11.25am BST; meanwhile here’s how the top of the leaderboard looked at the start of the day. Let’s get out there, then. It’s on!
-11: Celine Boutier
-8: Nasa Hataoka
-7: Minjee Lee, Brooke Henderson
-6: Nelly Korda, Yuka Saso
-5: Kim A-lim, Alison Lee
-4: Angel Yin, Lilia Vu, Gemma Dryburgh, Celine Borge, Gaby Lopez
-3: Kim Hyo-joo, Leona Maguire, Anna Nordqvist, Hsu Wei-ling, Linn Grant, Patty Tavatanakit