Celine Boutier grabbed her first victory of the year thanks to a sublime final-round display to win the Aramco Team Series event in Shenzhen, China.
The 30-year-old came into the final round tied for the lead alongside China’s Xiyu Lin but the six-time LPGA Tour winner carded a bogey-free round for the second day running to secure her first title of 2024 and sixth on the Ladies European Tour.
“It was a great round and it was fun to battle it out. I’m very happy with my round,” said Boutier.
“I wished a few putts dropped but I’m happy with how I handled today. It was close the whole day. You definitely had to be on your toes until the end and I was very happy with the last two holes.
“I played solid from start to finish and felt confident over the last two days.”
Home favorite Lin, competing in front of her home crowd for the first time since earning bronze at the Paris Olympics, started the final round in spectacular fashion with three consecutive birdies, putting her two shots ahead of Boutier. But Boutier sunk three consecutive birdies of her own at the seventh, eighth, and ninth to earn a shot advantage heading into the back nine. But it was a bogey on the 15th that cost Lin which Boutier pounced upon to cruise towards victory.
“Celine played unbelievably,” Lin said. “A 7-under round and bogey-free is hard to beat, especially when my putter is not on. When I got to 18, I was two shots behind, so I knew I had a very slim chance.”
France’s Pauline Roussin-Bouchard and Thailand’s Kusuma Meechai finished tied-third on 8 under.
What is the next event?
The next event on the Ladies European Tour schedule is the Wistron Ladies Open taking place between 10th-13th October at the Sunrise Golf and Country Club in Taiwan.