Boutier rallies from four back to win ShopRite LPGA Classic
Boutier erased a four-shot deficit with three birdies around the turn and a 30-foot birdie on 13 to win by one at ShopRite.
Celine Boutier turned a Sunday deficit into a signature finish, erasing four shots and closing with a 5-under 66 to win the ShopRite LPGA powered by Wakefern by one stroke over Arpichaya Yubol. The decisive surge came around the turn, where Boutier strung together three birdies to catch Soo Bin Joo, who had carried the 54-hole lead into the final round but could not hold it under pressure.
Boutier then seized control on the 13th hole with a long birdie putt from roughly 30 feet, the kind of putt that can break a crowded leaderboard open for good. From there, she stayed steady while others struggled to keep pace on the Seaview Hotel & Golf Club Bay Course in Galloway, New Jersey, where the combination of low scoring and shifting positions made the closing stretch volatile. Boutier finished at 9-under 204, Yubol was second at 8-under, and Lauren Walsh took solo third at 7-under in a career-best LPGA finish.
The victory carried weight beyond the final score. It was Boutier’s seventh career LPGA Tour title and her second win at this event, after she also captured the ShopRite LPGA Classic in 2021. The result extended her standing as the winningest French player in LPGA Tour history and reinforced her reputation as one of the tour’s most reliable closers when a final round turns into a birdie contest.
Boutier’s win also fit into a tournament with deep roots. The ShopRite event, staged May 29-31 with a $2 million purse, originally ran from 1986 to 2006 before returning to the schedule in 2010. This year’s finish matched that history: a lead changed hands, a veteran made the key putts late, and a younger challenger, Joo, saw a four-shot advantage disappear. Yubol’s runner-up finish was her best result in the event.
The week also included a human-interest moment before the final round, when Boutier helped grant a wish for 11-year-old Evelyn King-White, who is battling leukemia, through the Childhood Cancer Society. With the next major, the U.S. Women’s Open presented by Ally, set for June 4-7 in Pacific Palisades, California, Boutier left New Jersey with momentum and another reminder that she remains a major factor on the LPGA Tour.
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