French women Perrine Delacour, Celine Boutier look forward to representing home country at Paris Olympics | LPGA | Women’s Professional Golf Association

SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France – Perrine Delacour had many things on her mind, but the Paris Olympics was not one of them.

The year was 2022, and after missing the cut at the CPKC Women’s Open, Delacour decided it was time to put the clubs down for a while. The mental toll of professional golf had been too great, and the clubs had to be out of sight, out of mind so that Delacour could decide if life was worth living. this, if she wanted to keep fighting.

A much-needed mental rehab gave her the answers she needed, and Delacour returned to golf the following year, in March 2023.

She attacked the 2023 LPGA Tour schedule with renewed vigor that season, earning seven top-20 finishes and qualifying for the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship.

At the start of the year, the Olympics still felt like a pipe dream too far out of reach for the Frenchman, but as Delacour completed her 11th season on the LPGA Tour, the bright lights of Paris were coming. -in at last. view

“Early in 2023, when I started again, (the Paris Olympics) wasn’t even on my mind,” Delacour recalled. “I was just trying to get through the course and not cry.” too much. As everyone knows, I was struggling mentally. Then I had a really good season in 2023, so I was like, ‘Maybe I want the Olympics.’ to do.’ It was in my mind, but I was trying not to put too much pressure on myself.”

The 2024 season was a bit rocky again for Delacour early in the year. She missed six cuts in her first eight starts, finally returning to form in May. But those early problems didn’t end when it came to Olympic qualification

The work she did in 2023 was more than enough to strengthen her world status, and after the qualification period for the 2024 Games that ended after the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, Delacour’s dreams were realized.

She had done it. She was going to represent France at the Olympics in Paris.

“It’s definitely an award,” Delacour said. “It’s far from my mental breakdown, so I liked it. I’m still a little overweight and all, but I’m a lot better than when I stopped in September 2022.

“I’m enjoying every minute, and if I happen to be in the top three at the end of the week, I’ll be really happy. If not, now is a good time. Playing in front of the family at the Olympics, it’s already good enough.”

Although Delacour did not expect to qualify for the 2024 Olympics, Celine Boutier was always going to compete in Paris.

She first represented France at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, finishing in a tie for 34th in Japan. In the years since, Boutier has collected five LPGA Tour titles, four of which were captured in the 2023 season and one of which was her first major victory in her home country at the Amundi Evian Championship.

Boutier has been in the top 10 of the Rolex Women’s World Golf Ranking since winning in Evian-les-Bains, France, rising to third in the world, a position she held until the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give.

As France’s top professional golfer, all eyes will be on Boutier to see how she fares against the world’s top talent at Le Golf National. Unlike many in this week’s 60-player field, the 30-year-old has plenty of experience with the venue and will be drawing on that local knowledge as she works to find a place on the podium. at the end of the week just outside Paris.

“I definitely played it a lot,” Boutier said. “We had national junior championships here every summer, and I joined the national team and I had the official training camps, with Perrine, too. Yes We’ve played (Le Golf National) a lot. It’s definitely a challenging course, and obviously the rough is pretty thick. It’s going to be a good tournament.”

Boutier and Delacour were both in Paris for the Opening Ceremony and saw the conclusion of the men’s golf tournament on Sunday at Le Golf National. Like Victor Perez, Delacour will hit the first tee on Wednesday morning at 9am local time to start the women’s golf tournament at the Paris Olympics, a special honor for the 30-year-old Frenchman.

She picked countryman Matthieu Pavon’s brain about how to handle the emotion that comes with being on the first tee at the Games and works to handle those emotions as best she can while’ as she goes on.

“I spent some time with Matthieu, asking him a couple of questions about how he felt on the first tee to get some tips and prepare for Wednesday. He really struggled on the first tee last Thursday,” Delacour said. “He was very emotional, very high, which is normal. You don’t expect to have that on the first tee. He said at the end of the week, there was so much emotion on Thursday that he struggled through the week. That helped me, like, I have to rest early in the week to carry him for four days in a row.”

The Games are often a source of inspiration for young athletes who have dreams of podiums and medals and Olympic glory one day, pushing them to pursue those goals and passions as they work to to join their idols in the record books of history. While Boutier and Delacour will be doing just that week and weekend on the LPGA Tour, both athletes know that this time there is something different, something bigger, and they will take the opportunity to strengthen golf fandom in France as much as ever. to earn a place on the podium at their country’s Olympic Games.

“It’s definitely very cool to be a part of the Olympics,” Boutier said. “(The men’s golf tournament) was great for us, for the French people to even get the game of golf. We saw a lot of people on the course who didn’t really know golf at all, wanting to be curious to watch something different. I think it will be huge for France and huge for golf in France.”

Delacour agreed: “I know we’ve already inspired people,” she said. “I felt it at the Opening Ceremony when we moved from the town to the boat and during the Seine, it’s not a word. We have a lot of people on the course, and they’re all here for you no matter what. They showed it to Mattlieu during the four days, where he was still struggling. ‘ rejoice for him.

“We’re just going to do our best. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to play in the Olympics. For me, I just (want to) enjoy every moment as much as I can.”