How Celine Boutier Became One of The World's Best Golfers

In our series profiling the world’s best professional golfers, Derek Clements looks at Celine Boutier, the Frenchwoman who has enjoyed a year to remember in 2023, winning her first major, starring in the Solheim Cup and just being pipped to top honours on both the LPGA Tour and Ladies European Tour.

There is a chance that at the start of 2023 you may not have heard of Celine Boutier. If you have any interest whatsoever in the game of golf, you most certainly have now.

Boutier was born on November 10, 1993, in Clamart, France, and started playing golf at the age of seven. She has a twin sister who has never touched a golf club.

She has just completed the season of her life on both sides of the Atlantic. She won four times in 2023, including her first major, and was a key member of the European team that retained the Solheim Cup for a record third time.

She won more than $3m in prize money on the LPGA Tour and was pipped to first place in the Race to the CME Globe by Lilia Vu and finished second in the Ladies European Tour’s Race to Costa del Sol.

Boutier won several international amateur events including the 2012 European Ladies Championship and the 2015 British Amateur.

She played college golf at Duke University from 2012 until 2016, winning four tournaments. She helped the team to an NCAA Championship in 2014 and was named he Women's Golf Coaches Association (WCGA) Player of the Year and won the Honda Sports Award.

In her junior year, Boutier began working with Cameron McCormick, a swing coach best known for his work with Jordan Spieth.

In December 2014 Boutier became the world’s top amateur. Three months earlier she finished in a tie for 29th place at the Evian Championship.

In 2017, Boutier won twice on the Symetra Tour and had eight top-10 finishes. She became the third member of the 2017 graduating class to exceed $100,000 in a single-season earnings and earned an LPGA Tour card. She also won the Sanya Ladies Open on the Ladies European Tour.

Her first full season on the LPGA was 2018, when she played in 25 tournaments, made 16 cuts, picked up $319,577 in prize money and finished 61st on the money list. She also won the Australian Ladies Classic and finished 10th on the Ladies European Tour Order of Merit despite playing in only seven events.

In February 2019, Boutier enjoyed her first LPGA Tour win at the ISPS Handa Vic Open. In the final round, Boutier made a critical birdie on the 15th hole.

With the LPGA Tour on hold because of coronavirus, Boutier won the Texas Open.

But 2023 has been a special year. She won the LPGA Drive On Championship in March.

In July she won the Evian Championship in front of a home crowd in France, shooting four rounds in the 60s to win by six shots. The victory saw her rise 11 places to fourth in the world ranking.

And she wasn’t done. The following week she won the Scottish Open with a total of 273, 15 under par. It was her 13th win, and fifth on both the LPGA and LET tours and it took her to third in the world rankings.

Boutier then added the Maybank Championship in October, beating another world-class field for her fourth victory of the year.

She went into the season-ending Andalucia Open de Espana on the LET in second place in the Race to Costa del Sol despite having only played in five tournaments.

There is no question that she is the best female golfer France has ever produced and now, having landed her first major, it seems that there is little to stop her going on to add to her tally. Confidence is everything and she has it in spades.