Boutier opens 4-shot lead at Tiburon
NAPLES, Fla. – What looked to be a wide-open race for the richest prize in women’s golf is now in the hands of Celine Boutier, who made seven birdies over the last 10 holes for a 7-under 65 and a four-shot lead Friday in the CME Group Tour Championship.
For so much of the wind-blown second round, a dozen or so players were separated by one shot at Tiburon Golf Club. That included Nelly Korda and Jin Young Ko, four-time winners this year in a battle for LPGA player of the year.
Over the final two hours, Boutier left them all in her wake in the chase for the $1.5 million prize.
Among her seven birdies, the 28-yearold from France chipped in from short of the green on the 13th, stuffed her approach to 4 feet behind the hole on the 15th, reached the middle of the green on the par-5 17th in two for an easy birdie and closed with a 7-foot birdie putt.
She was at 14-under 130, four ahead of Gaby Lopez of Mexico (68), Evian Championship winner Minjee Lee of Australia (68) and Mina Harigae (69).
“I was frustrated with my front. I left a couple of shots out there,” Boutier said. “My long game was really solid all day, and I was able to put my shots close, and it was helpful on the back.”
Korda, who has a 10-point lead over Ko in the race for player of the year, was in the group five shots behind after having to settle for a 69.
Ko had a 67 and was in the group six shots behind. More relevant to player of the year, Ko was two shots away from a chance to finish second, which she has to do for any chance to capture player of the year for the second time, and even that depends on how Korda fares.
Going into the weekend of the season finale, they’re all chasing Boutier.
Boutier’s 66 matched the low score of the second round. Danielle Kang also had a 66.
It was a different Tiburon from the day before, when a soft rain and virtually no wind led to 18 players posting 67 or better. This was more like Florida in the fall, with a steady wind that was relentless and strong enough to make players uncomfortable over shots at times.
Lexi Thompson is still a factor, one week after she wasted a chance to end more than two years without winning by finishing bogey-bogey and losing in a playoff. She won at Tiburon two years ago and it plays into her strength of being able to overpower courses.
Thompson says she is working tirelessly on her putting – she chose not to say who is helping her with her short game – and put bad memories behind her. She had a few tap-in birdies to atone for two bogeys in her round of 69 to reach 8-under 136.
PGA Tour
ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – A strong wind off the Atlantic Ocean swept over
Sea Island, and it was no problem for Talor Gooch of Oklahoma as he handled the exposed Seaside course for a 5-under 65 to take a one-shot lead in the RSM Classic.
Gooch matched the low score of the round – Taylor Moore had a hole-in-one on the 17th hole at Seaside for a 65 – and was at 13-under 129.
He was one shot ahead of John Huh, who had a 67 at Plantation, and Sebastian Munoz, who went from a 60 at Seaside to a 70 in the second round at Plantation. Moore and Mackenzie Hughes of Canada (68 at Seaside) were two shots behind.
The cut was at 4-under 138. Among those making it to the weekend was 57year-old tournament host Davis Love III with birdies at Nos. 13 and 15 for an evenpar 70 at Seaside. Also making the cut on the number was Adam Scott, who needed birdies on three of four holes on the Plantation back nine for a 71.
Among those missing the cut were major champions Jason Day, Lucas Glover and Graeme McDowell, as well as defending champion Robert Streb. He beat Kevin Kisner in a playoff last year. Neither will be around for the weekend.
European Tour
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Collin Morikawa got a big stroke of fortune at the DP World Tour Championship. Rory McIlroy felt he got no luck at all.
The drama in the second round of the tour’s season-ending event was reserved for the final hour at Jumeirah Golf Estates – and the tournament’s two headline players were at the center of it.
Morikawa, looking to become the first American to win the Race to Dubai title, pushed his tee shot at the par-3 17th hole and shouted, “Get in the bunker.” The ball, instead, bounced on a downslope in the rough and headed toward water, only for it to hit a hazard post and stay dry.
An up-and-down for par followed by a final-hole birdie saw the British Open champion shoot a second straight 4-under 68, leaving him three shots off the lead and in a strong position to finish the season as European No. 1.
McIlroy, the first-round leader after an opening 65, reached the 18th tee with a one-stroke advantage despite hitting only five of 13 fairways to that point. He drove left into a bunker and his third shot kicked left short of the green and dribbled into the water.
A double-bogey 7 completed a round of 70 which saw him fall out of the lead, held jointly by Shane Lowry (65), John Catlin (65) and Sam Horsfield (66) on 10 under par. McIlroy will play with Morikawa in the third round as he goes in search of back-to-back wins following victory at the CJ Cup on the U.S. PGA Tour last month. Morikawa doesn’t need a win to have a successful week in Dubai. He came into the tournament ranked No. 1 in the Race to Dubai standings, narrowly ahead of compatriot Billy Horschel, who is only even par after rounds of 74 and 70.
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