France's Celine Boutier kisses her trophy after winning the Evian Championship women's golf tournament in Evian, eastern France, Sunday, July 30.The Canadian Press
Céline Boutier carded a final round of three-under 68 to win the Evian Championship by six shots for her first major title Sunday.
The 29-year-old Boutier finished at 14-under 270 overall. She is the first Frenchwoman to win the tournament, which became a major in 2013.
“It has been my biggest dream since I started watching golf,” Boutier said. “This tournament has always been very special to me, even just watching as a teenager and just to be able to hold this trophy is pretty unbelievable.”
Boutier is the third woman from France to win a major, after Patricia Meunier-Lebouc at the 2004 Kraft Nabisco Championship and Catherine Lacoste, who was an amateur when she captured the 1967 U.S. Women’s Amateur.
Boutier, who had never finished better than 29th in six previous appearances at the tournament, was six shots clear of runner-up Brooke Henderson of Canada, who finished eight under after a final-round 70.
The 25-year-old Henderson of Smiths Fall, Ont., was the defending champion after going 17 under for the tournament in 2022.
Henderson made three birdies and had two bogeys Sunday en route to second, which was the best result by a defending Evian champion since it became a major.
“It feels great to be back in contention on the final groups in the weekend on a major championship,” Henderson said. “That’s all you can really ask for.
“I feel like things are really coming together. It’s been a little bit of up-and-down year so it’s really nice to finish strong this week.”
Boutier took a three-shot lead into the final round and eased any worries she may have had with two birdies to start and another on the fifth hole.
“That was pretty unexpected,” Boutier said. “I definitely felt like I handled the first few holes really well. I had a good opportunity on one and the putt on two was definitely a bonus.”
Boutier had a total of four birdies in the final round and a bogey on the par-four 13th.
Five players – Norway’s Celine Borge (68), Mexican Gaby Lopez (68), South Korea’s A Lim Kim (69) and Japan’s Yuka Saso (70) and Nasa Hataoka (72) – were joint third at seven under.
Lee Hodges gets his first PGA tour victory
BLAINE, Minn. – Lee Hodges shot a 67 in the final round on Sunday for a wire-to-wire title at the 3M Open and his first tour victory, setting tournament records with a 260 and a seven-stroke win. Hodges, who started the day with a five-stroke lead on J.T. Poston, was up by three entering the par-five last hole on his 65th career start. After Poston’s go-for-broke approach yielded a triple bogey, Hodges tapped in a short putt for his third birdie of the round. The 28-year-old Alabama native hugged and hoisted his wife, Savannah, in celebration after she hustled out to the green to greet him. Poston shot a 69 to drop into a three-way tie for second place with Martin Laird and Kevin Streelman. Dylan Wu shot a 64 to match Keith Mitchell for fifth at 16 under. Tony Finau, the defending champion and highest-ranked player at 10th in the FedEx Cup standings participating in this field, shot a 70 to land in a three-way tie for seventh. Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., shot a final-round 68 to finish at 10 under. Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C., shot a final-round 67 to finish at nine under.
Cejka wins Senior British Open
BRIDGEND, Wales – Germany’s Alex Cejka prevailed over Ireland’s Padraig Harrington on the second playoff hole to win the Senior British Open at Royal Porthcawl on Sunday. Cejka birdied the second extra hole to claim his third senior major title after he and Harrington had finished tied on five-over par following a final round played in miserable wet and windy conditions. Mike Weir of Bright’s Grove, Ont., had missed the weekend’s cut at 11 over after two rounds.