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Celine Boutier Outlasts Georgia Hall in Playoff for Third LPGA Tour Victory
The LPGA’s first full-field event of the season ended in dramatic fashion as Celine Boutier edged out her Solheim Cup teammate Georgia Hall in a one-hole playoff. Boutier, who birdied Superstition Mountain’s iconic par-5 18th to force extra holes, captured her third LPGA Tour victory at the Drive On Championship.
Boutier shot a steady final-round 68, with a pivotal birdie on the 13th hole, while Hall carded an impressive 65 to take the initial clubhouse lead at 20 under. Japan’s Ayaka Furue came in solo third place at 19 under.
“Yeah it was not easy by any means,” the Duke standout said of her final round. “I definitely feel like this course is very scorable, so I knew I had to make some birdies. The one on 13 was definitely a relief, I feel like I got a little bit of a lucky break, but I hung in there.”
After a day of successful scrambling, Boutier executed two more consecutive up-and-downs on the final hole right when she needed to.
The winning putt on the 73rd hole of the LPGA Drive On Championship!@celineboutier gets her third Tour win of her career! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/0l3Sn2mMla
— LPGA (@LPGA) March 27, 2023
The playoff match-up between Boutier and Hall was made all the more intense, as the pair have played as match play partners on Team Europe during both the 2019 and 2021 Solheim Cups.
“To be honest it was not enjoyable,” Boutier said of playing against her close friend. “I feel like I’m not really confrontational by any means, and I really like Georgia. We were partners like you said, so I was definitely a little bit sad that I had to go against her. But she had a great round today.”
With the victory, Boutier officially became the winningest player from France in LPGA Tour history, passing Anne Marie Palli and Patricia Meunier-Lebouc.
“It’s unbelievable,” Boutier said. “I don’t really know how to express it. Anne Marie is actually here today watching, so it’s very special. I was trying not to think about it, just because it’s so crazy to think that I’m making history in any way. I feel like I’m just trying to do my thing. Hopefully I will have more chances in the future. Yeah, I’m definitely trying not to think too hard about it.”
Boutier will take home a $262,500 check from the win, and she’ll shoot up to No. 1 on the Race to CME Globe season standings.
Gabrielle Herzig is a Breaking and Trending News writer for Sports Illustrated Golf. Previously, she worked as a Golf Digest Contributing Editor, an NBC Sports Digital Editorial Intern, and a Production Runner for FOX Sports at the site of the 2018 U.S. Open. Gabrielle graduated as a Politics Major from Pomona College in Claremont, California, where she was a four-year member and senior-year captain of the Pomona-Pitzer women’s golf team. In her junior year, Gabrielle studied abroad in Scotland for three months, where she explored the Home of Golf by joining the Edinburgh University Golf Club.