Alison Root discusses the Amundi Evian Championship
Well done to Celine Boutier on winning last week’s Amundi Evian Championship. The 29-year-old has been knocking on the door for a while to achieve major success, she is always thereabouts on the leaderboard. Celine played magnificently from start to finish and cruised to a six-shot victory ahead of defending champion Brooke Henderson. Watching on TV, it was amazing to see the number of French fans that had turned out in droves to support their countrywoman.
"It has honestly been my biggest dream ever since I started watching golf," Boutier said. "This tournament has always been very special to me, even just watching as a teenager. To be able to hold this trophy is pretty unbelievable!"
This win has propelled Celine to 4th in the world rankings and with the Solheim Cup just around the corner, her current form will be music to the ears of European Captain Suzann Pettersen. There’s a good chance that we’ll see her tee up with England’s Georgia Hall in the foursomes and fourballs as this star pairing were unbeaten in 2019 at Gleneagles and halved the one foursomes match when they were partnered in 2021 on US soil in Ohio.
As well as appreciating great golf, I always enjoying watching the Evian Championship as it is such a stunning picture postcard venue in the French Alps, the views across Lake Geneva are to die for. I was fortunate enough to attend this event several years ago, I haven’t played the golf course, but it if you ever get the chance to go, take it!
However, not everyone will have fond memories of the Evian Championship and that includes Spain’s Carlotta Ciganda. She was handed a two-stroke penalty for slow play on her final hole. She appealed the decision but, when it was denied, she refused to add the penalty to her scorecard, which resulted in her disqualification.
Taking to Instagram to explain her frustrations and her side of the controversy. Ciganda wrote: “I got a few messages about the DQ. I want to be very clear and the reason I did not sign a 7 on the last hole is because I don’t think I took 52 seconds like the rules official said. I had a 10 footer on the last hole, last putt and the group behind they were not even on the tee on a par 5.
“Very poor performance from the LPGA rules official, they don’t understand what professional golf is about, they only look at their stopwatch like if 20 seconds is going to make a difference. I had family and friends watching and they all said it was impossible I took that long to hit that putt!
“It was tough out there with windy conditions and difficult pins and I wish everyone gets treated the same and they don’t pick on the same players all the time! That’s all!”
I feel sorry for Carlotta, especially if she feels that she is being singled out, but a lot of these players do need to get a move on. Apparently, rounds were taking six hours plus. I can’t imagine anything worse, even if you are playing one of the most beautiful courses in the world. That said, it did make me think that I definitely need to spend a bit more time over my putts!