Busy leaderboard highlights what we learned Thursday at 2023 Amundi Evian Championship

The first round of the fourth women’s major championship of the year didn’t disappoint Thursday as some of the world’s best got off to hot starts at the 2023 Amundi Evian Championship.

A total of 49 players made their way around the Evian Resort’s Championship course under par in the opening round in Evian-les-Bains, France, and it’s Paula Reto leading the way at 7 under. Four players are tied for second at 5 under, with another nine all locked at T-6 at 4 under.

From the players who stepped up to the big names who stumbled, here’s what we learned from the first round of the 2023 Amundi Evian Championship.

Paula Reto means business

The 33-year-old South African missed the cut in the first three majors of this season but came out firing Thursday with a 7-under 64 round that featured just 24 putts.

“I had so much fun. This golf course is so fun and the views and everything, it’s just awesome to be here,” said Reto. “Just gave myself opportunities. One birdie dropped and you sort of try to do the same thing over and over and just put yourself in good spots on this golf course.”

Reto feasted on the par 5s with four birdies and made just one bogey on the par-4 11th. While she hasn’t seen much success in majors over her career –  especially at the Evian, where her best finish (T-48) and only made cut came back in 2016 – Reto said she’s excited to be at the top of the leaderboard at a major and welcomes the challenges that come with it.

Across 16 LPGA events this season, Reto has just two top 10s (most recently last week at the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational) and eight missed cuts.

Defending home soil

Celine Boutier has been in the mix in major championships a handful of times over the last four years, and this week she entered the Evian Championship as the highest-ranked player from France in the field.

Before the week began she admitted to putting extra pressure on herself given how special the event is to her. That said, she looked as free as could be in the first round. Boutier sits alongside Wichanee Meechai, Alison Lee and Lydia Ko at T-2 after the opening 18 holes and made just one bogey to sign for a 5-under 66.

“Very solid first round for me,” said Boutier. “I feel like I handled the course pretty well. I didn’t hit too many rough so it was a little bit easier to hit the greens and have more birdie chances. Yeah, overall very satisfied with my round.”

Boutier hasn’t finished better than T-29 at the Evian and missed the cut here last year. So far this season, the 29-year-old has made the cut in all three majors and has four top-five finishes, including a win at the LPGA Drive on Championship at Superstition Mountain.

“I feel like it’s pretty intimidating because there is slopes everywhere so I feel like it’s a little bit more narrow than it looks,” said Boutier of the test provided by Evian Resort’s Championship course. “I also feel like the more you play to the more you feel comfortable with it. I feel like the fact that I played it a few times already makes me feel a little bit more confident this time around.”

With her win at the Drive On in March, Boutier became the winningest French player in LPGA history.

'Pro Golfers, They're Just Like Us'

On the latest edition of everyone’s favorite game, we’ve got two entries from the first round of the Evian. First up is none other than Ruoning Yin, the winner of the 2023 Women’s PGA Championship. After a wayward shot on the par-5 seventh hole, Yin was forced to play her approach from the fringe of a different hole. Been there, done that.

The 20-year-old from China barely missed the green with her blind approach over trees as her ball landed on the green but rolled off the back edge.

Next up is Frenchwoman Perrine Delacour, who opened last year’s Evian Championship with a 5-under 66 and entered the weekend T-5 after a 3-under 68 on Friday.

This year was a little different for the 29-year-old from Laon, who signed for a 7-over 78 in the opening round. That said, the less-than-stellar performance didn’t keep Delacour from celebrating a birdie on the third hole. It doesn’t matter how poorly you may be playing, golf is meant to be fun, and this was fun.

So far this LPGA season Delacour has five top-20 finishes, most notably a T-11 at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and Round of 16 appearance at the Bank of Hope LPGA Match-Play.

Notable names struggle early

There’s still time for players to make their move and earn a weekend tee time, but with an early projected cut of 1 over after the first round, a handful of names are currently on the outside looking in with some work to do Friday.

Women’s PGA champion Yin and American fan-favorite Danielle Kang are both in the group of players T-83 at 2 over. Ranked No. 31 in the world, Carlota Ciganda has finished inside the top 20 in all three majors so far this year, including a T-3 at the Women’s PGA. She’s currently 3 over at T-98.

Even further down are Charley Hull (6 over, T-119) and Jeongeun Lee6 (7 over, T-124). Hull was T-3 last year at the Evian and recently shot a 6-under 66 in the final round of the U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach to finish T-2. Lee6 won the 2019 U.S. Women’s Open and was runner-up at the 2021 Evian Championship.

No luggage? No problem

You might assume that after an opening-round 66 that American Alison Lee would have seen a drop in her blood pressure and far fewer butterflies.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

After briefly sitting atop the leaderboard on Thursday, the 28-year-old UCLA product — who won the inaugural ANNIKA Award in 2014, given to the nation’s top collegiate female golfer — said early tournament success doesn’t typically settle her nerves.

“You would think if I have a good round, whether it’s the first day, second day, all three days, going into the final round, it puts me in a better state of mind,” Lee said. “But honestly, sometimes it doesn’t, and especially a course like this, when it’s a little difficult off the tee it just takes a lot of positive self-talk. I’m trying the best I can to stay confident and in the moment. A lot of the time if you see your name at the top of the leaderboard it is a little bit more nerve-wracking and a little bit more anxiety and adrenaline running through the veins.

“So just trying my best to stay calm and not worry about that too much. Like I said, I’ve been putting great. Just trying to focus on making birdies and not making too many mistakes.”

Not everything about the trip to France has gone smoothly, however. While Lee made the trip overseas without issue, her luggage did not. She said via Twitter that her suitcase had been stuck for 40 hours in Detroit and she planned on focusing her attention on a travel partner before getting some rest.

“I’m going to go track my suitcase and make sure everything is there. Maybe take a little nap. I slept through the night last night so I might not have to do that,” Lee said. “But I’m going to send Delta a pretty nasty email.”

— Tim Schmitt

Story originally appeared on GolfWeek