TADWORTH, England — Celine Boutier speaks in a press conference prior to the AIG Women’s Open at Walton Heath Golf Club on August 8, 2023. | Photo by R&A/R&A via Getty Images
Celine Boutier has won two straight tournaments. She now has her eyes set on a third consecutive victory at the AIG Women’s Open in England.
She is arguably the hottest golfer on the planet right now.
Following her victories at the Amundi Evian Championship and the Women’s Scottish Open, Celine Boutier arrives at the AIG Women’s Open at Walton Heath Golf Club looking to make it three in a row.
Should she emerge victorious again, Boutier will become the top-ranked player in the world.
“To be fair, [the odds of] even winning two in a row is already pretty low, so I know three would be unbelievable if it happens,” Boutier said. “But I’m just not going to put a lot of pressure on myself about that. I’m honestly trying to put some good rounds together and see at the end.”
She has played spectacularly as of late, carding seven of her last eight rounds in the 60s. The outlier came last Sunday at the Scottish Open, where she shot a 2-under 70 to win by two.
The week before, at the Evian, Boutier won her first major championship, which was remarkable considering it came in her home country of France.
“I’m just so happy to have already won my first major,” Boutier said Tuesday. “I obviously want to finish the last major of the season really well, but I’m definitely not putting so much pressure to win this week.”
Photo by Octavio Passos/Getty Images
TROON, Scotland — Celine Boutier poses with the championship trophy after winning the Women’s Scottish Open at Dundonald Links Golf Course on August 6, 2023.
Walton Heath requires accuracy off the tee, which Boutier has struggled with throughout her career. Yet, her driving game is a big reason she has been so successful over the past two weeks.
“I think my long game has been really solid the past few weeks because they were both pretty demanding courses,” Boutier said. “I feel like you had to be pretty accurate with the approach shots, so I feel like this is going to help me a little bit this week. It’s a little bit of a longer course, so I will have a lot of hybrids and stuff like that.”
“But I feel like as long as I can hit it on greens and give myself some chances, I should be pretty good.”
Walton Heath has received a lot of rain this summer, so the course will play longer and softer than usual.
It will surely test Boutier, who ranks 99th on the LPGA Tour in driving distance.
Yet, she has hit the ball better than anyone over the past two weeks.
Should she continue to strike it well—and win again—Boutier would claim her second major championship of the season and second straight major title.
The last time someone won two straight majors was in 2013, when Inbee Park won the Kraft Nabisco Championship and the Wegmans LPGA Championship.
Boutier has what it takes to get it done. Now she has to go out and do it.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko for more golf coverage. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough too.
