The LPGA remains on hold, but its players are showing up in all places where there’s competitive golf to be played. That said, this week’s Texas Women’s Open looked more like a tour stop than a state open. Frenchwoman Celine Boutier, who resides in Dallas, edged Lone Star state native Cheyenne Knight on Thursday for the title.
Boutier was 14 under for 54 holes at Old American Golf Club in The Colony, Texas. She climbed to the top of a loaded leaderboard on the strength of a second-round 7-under 64. She didn’t make a bogey that round.
Knight, who won the Volunteers of America Classic here last fall at the end of her rookie season, matched Boutier with a final-round 67 but it wasn’t enough. She finished at 11 under, three behind Boutier.
Scores: Texas Women’s Open
In 2019, Boutier cracked the winner’s circle for the first time in her three seasons on the LPGA by winning the ISPS Handa Vic Open in Australia. She was T-5 at the U.S. Women’s Open and went 4-0-0 for the European Solheim Cup team in the fall.
Kristen Gillman, an Austin native in her second season on tour, was a distant third at 5 under and Yu Liu, a former Duke teammate of Boutier’s (both were members of the Blue Devils’ 2014 NCAA title-winning team), was fourth at 4 under.
In all, six LPGA players finished inside the top 10. That also included Lindsey Weaver in a tie for fifth at 2 under and Brittany Lang, the 2016 U.S. Women’s Open champion, in a tie for seventh at 1 under.
Sadie Englemann, an Austin resident committed to play for Stanford, was the low amateur after finishing in part of the three-way tie for seventh.
Kenzie Wright, an Alabama senior who appeared on the Crimson Tide roster with Gillman, was solo 10th with an even-par total.
LPGA players Stacy Lewis and Gerina Piller, both Solheim Cuppers, were part of the five-woman tie for 11th
