KPMG WOMEN'S PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

June 20, 2024

Celine Boutier

Sahalee Country Club

Quick Quotes

THE MODERATOR: All right, here with Celine Boutier after her first round at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship good round for you today, 2-under. Probably the highlight was the last putt for birdie. Can you take us through the final hole for you today?

CELINE BOUTIER: Yeah, it was a very solid shot off the tee. I was a little bit in between clubs but decided to go with the 7-iron, and hit it really solid and had a good chance for birdie on the last hole. It's nice to be able to finish with a birdie.

Q. What are the challenges out there on the course today? How did you manage them?

CELINE BOUTIER: I think it's a very demanding course from tee-to-green. It's quite narrow off the tee and then even on the fairway your job is still not done, because the approach shots are quite tough, long shots and a lot of uneven lies. You have to be able to place the ball really well and miss on the right side.

Q. What do you feel you did best today?

CELINE BOUTIER: I think my long game was very solid. I had quite a few birdie chances. Didn't make all of them, but had a decent look at few of them, so I think that was definitely very helpful.

Q. Coming off such a fantastic year last year, what have you found as far as the challenges of following up that year and expectations, things like that? What's that been like for you?

CELINE BOUTIER: Yeah, I think just managing the expectations is a little bit tough. I feel like I have learned you have to stay patient and not be too down on myself, because I have to remind myself it's tough to win out here. And even though I haven't really had a lot of, you know, weeks in contention this year, I have to focus on my game and keep staying patient.

Q. Did you like this golf course from the moment you stepped foot on it or just your first impressions of it?

CELINE BOUTIER: Yeah, I think it's a great course. It's definitely very more on the difficult side, but I actually think it's almost a little bit like European style so I think it's quite good.

Like I said, it's very demanding from tee-to-green, so you have to play really well to score out here.

We'll see how the next few says evolve as far as how the golf course gets to play. It's definitely also getting a little bit firmer, so I wouldn't be surprised if it gets even more difficult over the weekend.

Q. Was there a part of your game you've been working on more than the others leading into this week?

CELINE BOUTIER: I think just my whole game really, yeah.

Q. You told me a while ago you just like hard golf courses. They bring out the best in you for some reason. What was clicking for you today that you really saw this golf course as something you could shoot a couple under and play pretty well?

CELINE BOUTIER: I'm not really sure. I definitely feel like you have to be smart and also have your long game that's kind of ready to go.

I definitely feel like today was pretty solid for me so that helped out a lot. But, yeah, we'll see. I just try to stay focused on each day at a time. On golf courses like that, everyone though you have a good solid round or two anything can still happen.

It forces yourself to just focus on each shot and round at a time.

Q. You talked about managing expectations. It's hard to give yourself grace when you're not performing to a level you were prior. Have you been able to do that, let your self relax a little bit?

CELINE BOUTIER: Yeah, it's been tough just because I just didn't feel like I was -- had my game as nearly as good as I wanted it to be. Feel like I had been working but nothing was clicking together.

So it's definitely been a test for me this year. Yeah, I'm just going to try to have a little bit more rounds under par and see how it goes.

Q. What would make you feel like everything is clicking? Is it a few more scores? A win here? What would make you feel like you finally have things in a row now?

CELINE BOUTIER: Just I think a few weeks where you feel like you're playing solid. Feel like I wasn't too far off but the scores weren't there. Sometime it's a few putts here and there or few approach shots that didn't go your way.

So it's hard to say. Sometimes I kind of feel down because of the result, but I have to remind myself to focus on the game and what I can -- what I've been improving on and just try to focus on that rather than just the result. They cannot always good your way.