2015 Evian Championship 1st Round Standout Moments

Céline Boutier, French number 1 amateur and number 5 in the world amateur rankings, earned her Evian Championship tee time with her win at the British Amateur championship.  This is Boutier’s second Evian appearance.  She finished 29 last year, but with a first round 7-over par 78, Boutier will need to get to the greens more quickly and get her ball in the cup in good order if she hopes to get above the projected 3-over cut line and play the weekend.

Sixteen-year old French amateur Agathe Laisne, the youngest player in the 2015 Evian Championship field, the number 1 French amateur, acquitted herself very respectably, quickly recovering from a mind-stopping triple bogey on her first hole to card a 4-over par 75 for her debut Evian round.

Paired with Jennifer Song and Carlota Cignada and teeing off in the morning on Friday, Laisne will need to shave some strokes off her score in order to get clear of the projected cut line and play the weekend.

Ireland’s Leona Maguire carded a very respectable 72 for her Evian Championship debut round.  Maguire ran into a bit of a snag on the par-4 12th hole, but she struggled to find the short grass and was a bit slow getting to the greens, once there she managed those tricky Alpine putting surfaces like a champion, needing a scant 25 putts to finish her round.  Let’s see how Maguire, who’s paired with Klara Spilokova and Belen Mozo and playing at the leading edge of the afternoon wave, fares for her second round.

Seventeen-year old Swiss amateur Albane Valenzuela, like Céline Boutier, carded a 7-over par 78 for her Evian Championship debut round.  Valenzuela struggled with the challenging Evian-les-Bains track.

Playing with Min Lee and Hee Young Park, Valenzuela may well face additional difficulties in her second round.  This group has a morning tee time on Friday and if the forecast rain arrives on time the Evian track will become even more difficult to manage.

Seventeen-year old French amateur Mathilda Cappeliez, who has already tested the LPGA major tournament waters — she finished 59th at the 2014 US Women’s Open — and has her sights set on an LPGA Tour card.  This experienced competitor, who’s inspired by Lydia Ko, has competed twice in the Evian Championship Juniors Cup (runner-up in 2012, 3rd in 2011) and more recently in the Evian Championship 2015 qualifying event. Cappeliez carded a 2-over par 73 for her Evian debut round.  Paired with Beth Allen and Mariajo Uribe, Cappeliez has an early morning tee time on Friday and is also likely to be faced with managing the Evian-les-Bain track in the rain.

Next: The Magnificent Seven