Celine Boutier sees off Xiyu Lin to become a double winner in China

Celine Boutier savoured her second career win in China after producing a flawless final round to see off home favourite Xiyu Lin and win the Aramco Team Series Shenzhen on Sunday.

Boutier, Europe’s top ranked player and most recent major winner, shot a bogey-free 66 to pull away from Olympic bronze medallist Lin and win by two strokes on 19 under par at Mission Hills.

“It was a great round. I was honestly super happy with how I handled today. I like China, so hopefully I can win some more tournaments here,” said the Frenchwoman, who won the Sanya Ladies Open in Hainan seven years ago. 

“It was close the whole day. One or two shots can swing pretty fast, so you have to be on your toes until the end. I’m super happy with the way I played the last few holes.

“I definitely felt comfortable from the first time playing the course. There are a few par-fives and good chances to have some birdies, so I took advantage of that. It was very positive, and overall, just a very enjoyable week here.

“I think I just played really solid from start to finish. The new putter really started to drop really soon into the first round, so I felt pretty confident over the last two days and I think that made the difference. Hopefully, I can build on it over the next few weeks.”

Lin, who was seeking her second Aramco Team Series title after winning in Hong Kong last year, shared the lead overnight and shot a five-under 68 but fell behind when Boutier birdied 12 and never caught up.

“It was a good fight, unfortunately my putter wasn’t very hot,” she said. “Celine played unbelievable, a seven-under round and bogey-free is hard to beat, especially when my putter is not on.”

Pauline Roussin-Bouchard completed a strong week for French players by tying for third with Switzerland’s Chiara Tamburlini, whose quartet won the team competition on Saturday.

Tamburlini leads the Ladies European Tour order of merit from Belgium’s Manon de Roey, with Roussin-Bouchard third ahead of English pair Bronte Law and Charley Hull.