Celine Boutier, Lydia Ko tied at Women’s Scottish Open heading to final round

There are 12 players within four shots of the lead.

If the leaderboard following the third round is any indication, the 2022 Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open at Dundonald Links in Ayrshire, Scotland, is in for a thrilling finish come Sunday.

Twelve players are within four shots of the lead, but Celine Boutier and Lydia Ko pace the field at 15 under following 54 holes in the week before the final women’s major championship of the season.

Ko, who fired consecutive rounds of 65 to open the tournament, shot a 1-under 71 on Saturday, and her highlight of the day came on the 18th. Her approach shot landed just past the hole before spinning back and nearly dropping for eagle. The ball settled a couple feet from the hole, and she tapped in the birdie to close her round on a high note. After not recording a bogey through the first two rounds, Ko made three on Saturday to her four birdies.

“I drove it a little better than I did the past couple of days, but my irons just weren’t as sharp,” Ko said. “It wasn’t the best golf I’ve played, but I was able to scramble around and it wasn’t as bad as I think.”

Boutier, however, was spectacular. She went out in 5-under 31, including three straight birdies on Nos. 5, 6 and 7. Boutier also birdied the third and ninth holes. On the back nine, she had one birdie and one bogey, but it was good enough to vault her into a tie for first heading to Sunday.

“It was a very solid day,” Boutier said. “The conditions were a bit more windy and a bit tougher, so it was really good to get a good start.”

Boutier has had plenty of success on links courses before. During the 2019 Solheim Cup, she went 4-0-0 for Team Europe in her first appearance, helping the Europeans win by a point.

“I really like playing in windy conditions,” said Boutier. “I feel like my ball flight is pretty low, so I never have trouble keeping it down, which is an advantage here.”

Maude-Aimee Leblanc, who tied for low round of the day at 6-under 66, is one of two players one shot back in a tie for third. Leblanc also went out in 5-under 31 and birdied both of the par 5s on the back nine to vault up the leaderboard. Leonie Harm shot 5-under 67 and moved to 14 under for the tournament, tied with Leblanc.

Harm, 24, is searching for her first career victory. The German, who turned pro in 2020, has shot rounds of 67-68-67 this week.

“I really enjoyed today’s round,” Harm said. “It got a bit windier, so it actually was a lot more difficult than the previous two rounds. And I’m very, very proud of myself that I still got a low scorecard to sign off.”

Eun-Hee Ji and Lilia Vu are tied at 13 under in a tie for fifth. The duo played with Ko in the final pairing, shooting 2 under and 1 under, respectively.

Ko is searching for her first victory since March while Boutier hasn’t won since October of 2021.

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