AIG WOMEN'S OPEN

August 8, 2023

Celine Boutier

Press Conference

OLIVIA McMILLAN: Delighted to be joined by Celine Boutier.

Celine, welcome to the AIG Women's Open. It's been a remarkable two weeks for you. How are you feeling.

CELINE BOUTIER: Feeling good. I'm definitely a little bit tired physically, but yeah, I'm just really trying to recover and rest as much as I can before Thursday.

OLIVIA McMILLAN: Can I take your mind back two weeks to the Evian? Winning your first major championship in your home country must have just been so incredible for you personally.

CELINE BOUTIER: Yeah, it was always something I always dream of doing in my career. I feel like winning a major at home is something you definitely want to do, and to be able to do it two weeks ago with the crowds and with my family and some of my family and friends there was definitely something that I probably will never forget.

OLIVIA McMILLAN: Of course you went straight into the Women's Scottish Open after that win, and you backed that with another win. That's an incredibly difficult task. Can you talk about what your mindset was last week and how you achieved that feat?

CELINE BOUTIER: Yeah, definitely tried to focus on resting for the first few days, and I had some good memories from that tournament, from that course the year before, because I had played pretty well.

So I felt pretty confident, and then I feel like my main goal was really to put some solid rounds together and try to stay focused on the task and not really think about, you know, the week before and all that, and then just being able to you know, have a chance to play for the win on Sunday was a bonus.

Q. Will that be the tactic again this week, to not think too much about the last two weeks, or if you're in contention, will you be thinking, I did this before, I can do it again?

CELINE BOUTIER: Yeah, I think for sure, the first few rounds, you definitely try focus on yourself a little bit more and just try to put some good rounds together just to be able to have a chance to play for the win on Sunday.

But yeah, I feel like it's definitely a little bit tiring because it's now been three weeks on the road. So it's definitely starting to settle in that, you know, it's a little bit -- I mean, yeah, it's not easy to, like, stay focused and motivated. But at the same time, it's also the last major of the year. So I'm just trying to focus on that and trying to finish strong.

Q. Secondly, have you had a chance to get out on the course, and what are your feelings on the course and how it might suit your game?

CELINE BOUTIER: Yeah, it's definitely not really what I expected to see or play, but in a good way. I think it's a great course. It's definitely very long and very soft, which I expected it to be a little bit firmer. I think it's been raining quite a bit here.

I think it's been a great test. I feel like you have to be very accurate off the tee but also on the approach shots because you have such long clubs.

So I think it's going to be a good test and I feel like you have to definitely play well here to be able to score low.

OLIVIA McMILLAN: Going for three in a row this week, you said obviously it's hard to stay in that mindset, but is that three in a row, and is that really driving you, trying to get three wins in a row.

CELINE BOUTIER: No, I know the odds. To be fair, like even winning two in a row is already pretty low, so I know three is like -- it would be unbelievable if it happens, 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.

Q. Obviously winning in front of your home crowd a couple of weeks ago and in Scotland last week, what was the difference like between the two atmospheres for you that you felt, obviously playing at all home, and then playing in Scotland, great knowledge of golf up there?

CELINE BOUTIER: Yeah, I feel like the crowds in France was a little bit bigger, and they were definitely cheering for me I feel like, a biased crowd.

Scotland was a little bit more fair, I guess, to every player, and I feel like it was -- yeah, it was just different. I feel like it was also a little bit more pressure at home just because you didn't want to disappoint anybody, so I just felt like a different energy.

But yeah, it was nice to see so many people in France to be honest. I don't think I've seen that many people following, especially the last round, so it was really cool to see that they were really passionate and into it.

Q. Of course, being the newest major champion, does that give you any pressure to go two for two in the majors this week?

CELINE BOUTIER: I don't think so. I feel like I'm just so happy to have already won my first major. I feel like I obviously want to finish, you know, the last major of the season really well, but I'm definitely not putting so much pressure to, like, win this week.

Q. Was there any particular message or response particularly in France that you received after your victory which particularly meant something very, very special?

CELINE BOUTIER: I think, I mean, I feel like anybody that reached out was already, you know, kind enough to take the time and make the effort to reach out and congratulate me. I feel like it was really cool to see the amount of people that reached out.

I feel like it was nice to see other professional athletes that are not in the golf world that were able to, like, follow and actually, you know, congratulate me.

Yeah, it was pretty overwhelming.

Q. And did you learn anything from the French tennis players playing at Roland Garros and trying to be successful there that enabled you to be successful on home soil as well?

CELINE BOUTIER: I mean, it's a different sport because they are playing a singular opponent. I feel like golf, you're kind of -- most of the time, you are just managing yourself really. Maybe at the end, maybe it's going to be against a few players, one or two but most of the tournament, you are just trying to, you know, handle yourself.

I wouldn't say I learned specific stuff about the professional tennis players. I would say I mostly learn about from my past experiences.

Q. You've obviously played incredibly well in the last couple of weeks. Is there anything in particular that you've done well in those last two weeks that you are aiming to take into this week?

CELINE BOUTIER: I think my long game has been really solid the past few weeks because they were both pretty demanding courses. 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 little bit longer long course, so I will have a lot of hybrids and stuff like that.

But I feel like as long as I can hit it off greens and give myself some chances, it should be pretty good.

Q. And you mentioned the crowds in France. Are you hopeful that you winning a major on home soil can inspire the next generation of French golfers and really help the sport in France?

CELINE BOUTIER: I mean, I would hope so. That would be incredible. At the same time, I mean, I like to keep myself grounded. I wouldn't say, like, I wouldn't think that I would have personally that much of an impact.

But I feel like it's definitely the media coverage about the win, that has been pretty unbelievable in France, especially considering it's golf. Yeah, it's been very, very good, and we are hopeful that, you know, it's going to reach as many people as possible.

OLIVIA McMILLAN: Celine, thank you very much for your time and we wish you the best of luck this week.