LPGA DRIVE ON CHAMPIONSHIP

August 1, 2020

Celine Boutier

Quick Quotes

Q. Your second round. Definitely some differences in weather compared to yesterday. How did you take on today at Inverness?

CELINE BOUTIER: Yeah, for sure. It was completely different, and I feel like even the pin positions were a little bit trickier, especially on the back.

So I just did my best. I didn't hit the ball as well as yesterday, but I had some good par saves. Hopefully I can get my game ready for tomorrow.

Q. Are you someone that likes to take on some challenges like the rain here, or would you rather it be sunny and dry as can be?

CELINE BOUTIER: I mean, obviously I refer it dry and sunny, but I feel like I can handle tough weather conditions pretty well. Like in Europe it's not always great weather, and I played it Great Britain quite a bit.

So I feel like whenever the conditions are tough I kind of actually like it, even though I don't really like enjoy it per se. It's a good challenge and I think especially on this course you have to be very, very smart.

Q. I was going to say, what does the rain do to a course like this, and how does that affect your strategy going into the round?

CELINE BOUTIER: I mean, of course the course is going to play a little bit longer. And especially because here the fairways and the greens were pretty firm, so you would get a lot of roll. I feel like especially on the tee you have to be very careful with which club selection you were going to go with. I think that's kind of the trickiest thing.

And then just knowing when to be conservative and when to go for the pins. So I think that was the main difference.

Q. You got a taste of this kind of rain, but the people teeing off now are going to have to handle it maybe throughout their entire round. How do you think it's going to fare for the afternoon players?

CELINE BOUTIER: Yeah, it's definitely starting to pour quite a bit. I'm pretty happy to be done right now.

But we'll see what happens. You know, I feel like it's going to make the greens a little bit softer and more receptive, so when you see it that way, it may also be a little bit easier.

So I think it's going to be a lot of patience and mental toughness because you have to play through it. I think tomorrow the forecast is going to be the same as today, so, yeah, just get ready for anything.

Q. You won a couple tournaments during the break. How important was it to you to have those competitions?

CELINE BOUTIER: Yeah, it was definitely something that I was purposeful about, you know, playing within like a decent amount of range before the first tournament on the LPGA so that I wasn't too rusty before I started.

I feel like I did handle it pretty well because it also kept me motivating to practice. You know when you don't have tournaments for three months, sometimes you don't even want to go to the course.

So the fact that I had a couple tournaments -- I think I play like three of them the past two months -- so the fact that I had something to look forward to and some kind of competition going was kind of nice.

Q. What's your base in the U.S.? Where do you practice?

CELINE BOUTIER: In Texas, in Dallas.

Q. What club in Dallas?

CELINE BOUTIER: Trinity Forest.

Q. Okay. So that's why you were in all the Texas events. You only played in Texas?

CELINE BOUTIER: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because I also wanted -- I mean, luckily we had a tour that is nearby so I could drive. Just wasn't too sure about flying yet. I thought that is very lucky.

Q. Other than playing and practice, how did you spend the down time? What did you do?

CELINE BOUTIER: Well, lucky the weather was pretty nice, although a little bit hot. But I was able to do a lot of outdoor stuff and like do other activities, like other sports like tennis or biking and stuff like that.

So I was definitely about to like get out of my normal routine.

Q. Was it nice to actually have some time to enjoy?

CELINE BOUTIER: It was. It was nice at the end. Like I feel like the first month or month and a half I kind of hated it because it's too much down time and I'm not really used to it.

But then the last couple weeks I kind of really enjoyed it. The only thing is like when you want to have that long of a break you want stuff to be open, you know. But like everything was closed so there wasn't really -- you would take time off to do other stuff but you couldn't really do that much this year.

I mean, it was nice. I was able to get some rest.

Q. You had an amazing Solheim Cup debut. How much did that change you maybe as a player playing in that environment and rising to the occasion as a rookie?

CELINE BOUTIER: I think it hasn't really changed my game that much. I feel like maybe brought me a little bit of confidence. I feel like when your playing with that much pressure and, you know, that stage a kind of sometimes frightening and you don't really know how you're going to handle it until you actually experience it.

I was very satisfied with the way I handled myself and my emotions that week. Definitely gave me a little bit of confidence for sure.

Q. Have you visualized what it will be like as a Solheim venue?

CELINE BOUTIER: Yeah, definitely, especially the first time I played it. During the practice round I was kind of trying to picture what it would be like. I think it's going to be a fun track. I feel like the course this week is in great condition, so I don't think it's going to be playing that much different, which is kind of it's nice.

Yeah, I'm really looking forward to watching or playing in the Solheim.