Paris 2024 Olympics - Golf - Women's Round 1 - Le Golf National, Guyancourt, France - August 07, 2024. Celine Boutier of France in action during the first round REUTERS/Paul Childs
GUYANCOURT (Reuters) - France's Celine Boutier raced into an early lead as the women's golf competition at the Paris Games got under way on Wednesday after the main home medal hope negotiated a tricky course better than other favourites like defending champion Nelly Korda.
The women's tournament will follow the same format as the men's contest won by American Scottie Scheffler on Sunday, with 60 participants teeing off for a 72-hole, stroke-play contest over four days at Le Golf National south of Paris.
Cheered on by French fans, world number seven Boutier was at six under par after 15 holes having recorded seven birdies and one bogey, two shots ahead of Lilia Vu, the American world number two playing alongside the Frenchwoman.
Boutier, who bagged her first major title last year on home soil at the Evian Championship, is seeking to outdo Victor Perez who thrilled French fans with a dazzling final round on Sunday to take fourth place in the men's competition.
Other early contenders out on the course included South Africa's Ashleigh Buhai at three under and Colombia's Mariajo Uribe at two under. Uribe is aiming for a glorious finale to her career that she has decided to end at the Paris Games.
Tokyo gold medallist Korda, the world number one, shot a level-par round of 72 as she recovered from three early bogies.
"The greens were just so completely different, just from the practice green to the golf course, they were a lot slower," Korda told reporters. "Overall, it just took a little bit to adjust, but I adjusted well on the back nine."
Australia's Hannah Green, another top 10 player, also pointed to the difficulty of reading the greens as she laboured to a five-over par round with no birdies.
Britain's Charley Hull was near the bottom of the leaderboard with a nine-over par round.
The world number 11 put her performance down to rustiness as she returned from a shoulder injury, brushing off the idea an Olympic ban on smoking had disadvantaged the player known for puffing on courses.
As in Tokyo, Boutier is representing France alongside Perrine Delacour, who said the emotion of hitting the first tee-shot of the competition drained her and contributed to a disappointing seven-over par.
(Reporting by Gus Trompiz; Editing by Ken Ferris)
