Friday was a special one for Celine Boutier at Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore.
The third-ranked golfer in the world fired an 8-under 64 to take the lead following the second round at the 2024 HSBC Women’s World Championship. Following a first round in which scores were higher than usual, plenty of golfers went low on the second day, but none lower than Boutier, who had the round of the day by two shots. She leads at 7 under.
“Definitely, it feels good,” Boutier said. “I feel like I didn’t really get the best of starts last week, so it feels a lot better to finally have one low round.”
Boutier had a clean card with eight birdies in her second round, and she holds a one-shot lead over Japan’s Ayaka Furue, who shot 5-under 67 on Friday and is at 6 under for the tournament.
Even bigger for Boutier, the 2023 Amundi Evian champion — Friday was her father’s birthday.
“Wished him a happy birthday before my round,” Boutier said. “He was like, yeah, so you’ve got to get me a gift, so that would be a nice gift. I hope he enjoys that one.”
Madelene Sagstrom is solo third at 5 under, while Patty Tavatanakit, who has won the last two weeks, is T-9 at 3 under along with fellow star Brooke Henderson, among others.