Celine Boutier took another step towards claiming her first Major championship after a four-under-par 67 extended her lead at the Evian Championship to three shots heading into the final round.
In front of her home fans at Evian Golf Resort in France, the 29-year-old seized control in easy-scoring morning conditions with a super chip-in on the par-three 2nd kickstarting a supreme front nine which featured three more birdies.
A level-par back nine saw Boutier finish at -11 after missed birdie opportunities at 17 and 18, with the World No. 15 the only person in the tournament to shoot three consecutive rounds in the 60s.
“Feeling very satisfied with my round,” Boutier said. “I feel like it was definitely a grind. I was able to start off pretty good. I feel like I missed few shots in the beginning of the back nine, but was able to scramble, and so I feel like it's pretty positive and solid round for me today.
“I feel like the past three rounds have really been three different weather conditions, and so the fact that I've been able to keep my game solid for the past three days is very positive.”
If Boutier is to hold on for her maiden Major triumph in front of a partisan home crowd, she will have to see off a star-studded chasing pack, however.
Three shots back from the French golfer is Japan's Nasa Hataoka who finished fourth at last month’s US Women's Open. Hataoka flew out of the traps with six birdies on the front nine but stuttered to an eight-under-par finish after a birdie-less back nine which also featured bogeys on 14 and 16.
A shot further back at -7 is defending champion, Brooke Henderson and 2021 Evian Championship winner Minjee Lee.
World No.2, Nelly Korda surged into contention after firing the low round of the day. The American shot a superb bogey-free round of 64 to finish on -6 and a tie for fifth alongside 2021 US Women’s Open champion, Yuka Saso.
“It was super nice to see all the hard work kind of pay off today,” Korda said. Obviously still have 18 more holes, anything can happen, but I made a push today on moving day, which I'm really happy about.”
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