Celine Boutier flexes on home soil as she takes early lead of 2024 Olympics

Celine Boutier went nuclear on Wednesday during the first round of the women’s golf competition at the 2024 Olympics.

She signed for a 7-under 65 that included eight birdies and one bogey. Like the true competitor Boutier is, she felt the round could have been even better but was still pleased with the results.

“I’m really over the moon with how the tournament started for me,” Boutier said. “I wasn’t sure what to expect today, but I was able to take advantage of a few opportunities out there. So I feel good about my round and hopefully keep going for the next few days.”

The Olympics are in her home country of France, so the crowds were massive for her, which meant that support was plentiful.

She embraced it but called it a challenge, as typical LGPA crowds are not quite like the Olympics.

“It’s not something I’m used to from what I usually experience on the LPGA. So it’s nice to have that much support,” she explained.

Boutier played smart ahead of the tournament, as she experienced firsthand the atmosphere at the men’s competition last weekend.

“Being able to watch some of the men’s round and their tee shots and stuff first helped me out,” Boutier said. “I was able to see the support and the crowd they got and was able to help prepare myself for today and the rest of the week.”

“It’s challenging, but I try to focus on my game. And it’s such a tough course that you have to focus on your game. You can’t look around and laugh with the crowd. So it’s nice to have some support, but you have to focus out there.”

Even though she is not used to the crowd, the Frenchwoman did seem to appreciate the love — most of the time.

“Yeah, it was nice. It’s a little bit much for me sometimes,” she noted. “It’s just nice to have that many people excited about golf.”

She gave the crowd plenty to cheer about as Boutier’s putter was red hot. The 30-year-old made multiple long birdie putts throughout her round, making 123 feet of putts.

Of her eight birdies, six were from at least 16 feet 10 inches. Boutier led the field in strokes gained putting, at +4.860.

“I think my putting was very solid today,” she said. “I tried to be a little bit more aggressive with my speed, and it worked out. I noticed a lot of my putts were on line, sometimes a bit short, sometimes a bit too fast. When the speed was there, it was going in.”

“So it was a very nice feeling, and it helped me out because I don’t think I hit it that close, but I was able to be within range to make a birdie chance, a birdie run. So I feel like I took advantage of that.”

Boutier leads by three shots over South Africa’s Ashleigh Buhai who shot a 4-under 68. There are also four players tied for third at 2-under.

For the first two rounds, she plays with World No. 2 Lilia Vu and Korea’s Amy Yang. They tee off at 3:55 a.m. ET on Thursday for Round 2.

Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @golf_girl_sl.