KPMG WOMEN'S PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

June 26, 2021

Celine Boutier

Atlanta Athletic Club

Quick Quotes

Q. We're here with Celine Boutier who just finished up a round of 69. That was a big putt you had there on the final hole to get yourself to 10-under. Talk us through how you played the final hole.

CELINE BOUTIER: Yeah, I was a little bit frustrated with my putts on 16 and 17, so I really wanted to birdie 18. I had a pretty nice number on my third shot, so it was almost like a full 50 degrees, and I was able to -- I hit it really solid. I just feel like this pin is hard to be too aggressive with it. But yeah, my putt was downhill right to left and had a good line and good speed on it. I thought it was going to be short for a bit but ended up making it, so that was nice.

Q. About how far of a putt would you say that was?

CELINE BOUTIER: I think maybe like 18 feet.

Q. Overall it was an up-and-down day, a bunch of birdies, a couple bogeys, but you also had an eagle on No. 12. Tell us about that one.

CELINE BOUTIER: Yeah, I don't usually do a lot of eagles, so every one that comes is always welcomed.

They moved the tees up on that one so it was reachable. I had a 3-hybrid, and I hit it a little bit left, but I managed to stay out of the bunker, so I had like a chip, maybe like 20 yards or so. I hit it really nice and just like slowly made its way to the hole. It was really nice not to get the putter out of the bag.

Q. With that putt, how important was that shot for momentum since you were kind of four or five back all day?

CELINE BOUTIER: Yeah, it felt really nice because I did feel like I was kind of struggling a bit all day. Didn't have my full game as good as I wanted to, and I feel like that gave me a lot of confidence and allowed me to relax a bit more.

Q. How did you keep your focus and self-belief when there was a lot of hype around Lizette and Nelly who are birdieing back and forth, how do you stay in it yourself?

CELINE BOUTIER: Yeah, they both started really good on the first couple of holes, and I didn't start my best, but I feel like it was a long 18 holes, like a long day. I felt like I just had to focus on myself and my game rather than just what they were doing. So I think that helped me to just stay patient and not to really get too far ahead of myself because there was a lot of holes left.

Q. How do you do that? You're watching Lizette make 35-footers like they're tap-ins. How do you block all of that out and say, hey, I'm still in this thing?

CELINE BOUTIER: It's hard. Definitely the first -- I think she started with three birdies in a row or something like that, and then Nelly had also two birdies. I just had one bogey. So it was definitely like night and day. But it also enabled me to completely let go of it because I felt like -- I didn't feel like I was as close to them, so I was just like, you know what, let's just do my own thing and see at the end because there's nothing I can do other than just do my --

Q. Actually it was more relaxing for you to --

CELINE BOUTIER: I think so. At first it was a bit hard, but then I kind of used it as you know what, it doesn't matter, just do your own thing and you'll see.