France’s Celine Boutier overcame a four-shot deficit to claim the ShopRite LPGA Classic title, edging Thailand’s Arpichaya Yubol by one shot.
Entering Sunday at Seaview Golf Club, South Korea’s Soo Bin Joo held the overnight lead as she was seeking to capture her first LPGA Tour title. She started off strong with an opening birdie, however, she faltered with two bogeys at the 4th and 8th holes as Boutier climbed the leaderboard. The 32-year-old opened with a pair of birdies at the 1st and 3rd holes. She dropped her first and only shot of the round at the 7th, but quickly recovered with back-to-back birdies to close off the front nine in positive fashion.
A birdie at the 10th saw Boutier draw level with Joo at the turn and the momentum fully swung in the Frenchwoman’s favor on the 14th, where she drained a 30-foot birdie putt to move into the lead. Joo failed to respond after a critical double bogey on the same hole, where she missed the fairway, eventually chipping to eight feet by the hole before missing the putt to fall three shots back. Boutier saw no trouble of her own, parring each of the remaining holes and narrowly missing a four-foot birdie putt at the last. She carded a 5-under 66 to finish on 9 under to secure a one-shot triumph.
“To have a chance to win today is definitely something very special,” Boutier said afterwards. “I think it’s a great tournament, very special for me, so really excited to be able to have another win here.”
Boutier won the same New Jersey event five years ago in 2021. It marks her seventh LPGA Tour career title, and her first since the 2023 Maybank Championship, ending an almost three-year winless period. It’s a welcome victory for the major winner, whose previous best finish in ten events this year was T9 at the Mizuho Americas Open.
“I feel like my game has turned around the last few weeks. I could see it coming together, and I definitely did not expect it to come together this week and today. But I’m super excited to be back in the winner’s circle.”
After a late final round charge of her own, Thailand’s Yubol finished in second on 8 under. Ireland’s Lauren Walsh secured third, just a shot adrift at 7 under while Joo shared fourth place with Germany’s Polly Mack, Japan’s Chizzy Iwai and her compatriot Somi Lee, all at 6 under.
What is the next event?
The next event on the LPGA Tour is the U.S. Women’s Open presented by Ally taking place between 4-7 June at Riviera Country Club, Pacific Palisades, CA in the U.S.