Minjee Lee stays in touch at Evian Championship
Celine Boutier – in action today – image LPGA / Getty
Minjee Lee has stayed in touch after her second round of 71 has her in a share of 12th place at the Amundi Evian Masters in Evian les Bains in France, the 2021 champion five shots from Frenchwoman Celine Boutier.
Lee bogeyed her opening hole on day two and added four more bogeys along with four birdies for her even-par effort.
New Zealand’s Lydia Ko was in a share of second place after her opening round on Thursday but dropped five shots in her opening five holes and, given the shock of such a horror start, did well to play her last 13 holes in even par for a round of 76 to be at even par for the event and tied for 22nd and seven shots from the lead.
Stephanie Kyriacou and Karis Davidson are tied for 52nd while Sarah Kemp also made the cut on the cutline.
The story was not so good for Hannah Green who after an encouraging opening round of 68 slumped to a second round of 79 to miss the cut by one after dropping six shots in her closing six holes.
29-year-old Boutier will have the weight of a nation on her shoulders over the weekend as she looks to become the first French woman to win the event on the border between France and Switzerland and just the third Frenchwoman to win a major championship.
Boutier, a three-time LPGA Tour winner, was keen to downplay the pressure on and ahead of her.
“It’s definitely not easy,” said Boutier. “I feel like in the past I’ve definitely, you know, not handled it very well. I just feel like I put a lot of pressure on myself because I don’t want to disappoint anybody.
“If I learned anything from the past, I really have to just focus on the job and on the course, on each shot. I feel like that’s really helped me really stay focused and not get ahead or think too much about the plans.
“I feel like it’s a positive thing that the French media is talking about women’s golf and Evian. I feel like anything I can do to bring more attention to the tournament and women’s golf, in general, is always a good thing.”
