It was a dream start Wednesday for Celine Boutier.

Buoyed by the support of the home crowd, the 30-year-old Frenchwoman caught fire on the back nine to card a 7-under 65 and open a three-shot lead at the Paris Olympics.

It’s been a slow season so far for Boutier, a four-time winner last year — including her first major championship, also at home in France — who has struggled to meet the elevated expectations. Entering the Games, she had just a single top-10 and slipped to No. 7 in the world.

“I’m really over the moon with the way the tournament started for me,” she said. “Definitely wasn’t sure what to expect today, but I was able to take advantage of a few opportunities out there. So I feel good about my round and hopefully keep going for the next few days.” 

Knowing that she’d have to control her emotions at Le Golf National, Boutier prepared herself for the immense response by arriving early and seeing how Victor Perez (who finished fourth) and Matthieu Pavon were welcomed during the men’s competition.

Boutier might be even more of a home favorite, playing in front of tens of thousands of fans just 40 miles from her family’s home. The spectators chanted her name and cheered her arrival to each tee box at Le Golf National, where she has played since she was a junior on the French national team.  

“It’s such a tough course that you have to focus on your game. You can’t just look around and laugh with the crowd,” she said. “So it’s nice to have some support, but you definitely have to focus out there.” 

Boutier put on quite a show, going out in 33 before ripping off five birdies on the back nine (including three in a row on Nos. 14-16) to move in front of 2022 Women’s Open champion Ashleigh Buhai. It was Boutier’s best putting performance of the year, as she rolled in 123 feet of putts and led the field on the greens, gaining nearly five strokes.

The 65 tied Boutier’s second-lowest score of the season, and her best overall since February.

It was also more than nine strokes better than the field average on a day when just two players shot in the 60s. 

“It’s always nice to get a good start,” Boutier said, “but I also know that it’s still a long way to go and I have to focus on the next round.” 

FULL LEADERBOARD

1. Celine Boutier (FRA): -7 (65) 
2. Ashleigh Buhai (RSA): -4 (68) 
T-3. Gaby Lopez (MEX): -2 (70) 
T-3. Morgane Metraux (SUI): -2 (70) 
T-3. Mariajo Uribe (COL):  -2 (70) 
T-3. Lilia Vu (USA): -2 (70) 
T-7. Celine Borge (NOR): -1 (71) 
T-7. Xiyu Lin (CHN): -1 (71) 
T-7. Diksha Dagar (IND): -1 (71) 
T-7. Minjee Lee (AUS): -1 (71) 
T-7. Miyu Yamashita (JPN): -1 (71)

It was a rough start to Korda’s Olympic title defense – she made three bogeys in her first seven holes and appeared to be well off the pace.

But Korda began to dial in her speed on the greens, rallying with three birdies in her last 10 holes. The world No. 1 three-putted her final hole — her fourth three-putt of the round — but still managed to sign for an even-par 72 that kept her firmly in contention after the opening round.

“Hoping I can bring that momentum into the next three days,” she said.

It’s been a curious few months for Korda, who won six consecutive starts but enters the Paris Games as the week’s biggest question mark. She missed three straight cuts and then tied for 26th in her most recent start at the Evian Championship.

On Wednesday, she found just half of the fairways but struck her irons brilliantly to get her in the mix. She believed that the green speeds were significantly slower for the first day of competition than during the practice rounds and even the practice putting green — one of the reasons, she said, why she was 56th out of 60 players in putting.

“It was just a pace thing,” she said. “Overall, it just took a little bit to adjust, but I adjusted well on the back nine.”

Korda’s 72 was a popular number in the first round, with Rose Zhang, Lydia Ko, Ruoning Yin, Atthaya Thitikul and Amy Yang among those also at even par.

Twelve players broke par in the first round. That was a stark contrast to the men’s competition, when 41 players were under par after the first day on a course that had been softened earlier that morning by rain and humidity. … Lydia Ko had an up-and-down day in her bid to capture a third consecutive medal at the Olympics. She mixed four birdies, two bogeys and a double in her round of 72 that left her seven shots off the lead but just two shots off the podium. Ko is the only player, male or female, who won a medal in the previous two Olympic competitions. … It was a miserable go Wednesday for Great Britain’s Charley Hull, who shot a birdie-less 81 in the opening round and was in third-to-last place in the 60-player field. Hull injured her shoulder this summer and said she was rusty in what will be her first full tournament start in more than a month. … Aditi Ashok of India, who missed out on bronze by a shot in Tokyo, double-bogeyed her final hole of the day to shoot 72. … Tournament officials moved back the first tee to where it was positioned for the men, hoping to recreate the raucous atmosphere. But the opener played as the most difficult hole of the first round, averaging more than 0.4 strokes over par and yielding just seven birdies against 24 bogeys or worse. The women’s event is playing as a par 72, after converting the 18th hole into a reachable par 5. Measuring just 449 yards with water down the left side and fronting the green, the hole played as the third-easiest in the first round (4.87).

Check out the running recap from the opening day at Le Golf National.

Still a long way to go, but what a start for Boutier. The French major winner had eight birdies and one bogey in shooting 7-under 65. She led the field in strokes gained: putting and even chipped in for her final birdie of the day at the par-3 16th.

Vu was at 3 under and in third place when she hit a low snipe off the tee at the par-5 18th. Her ball went into the water hazard and she made bogey to shoot 2-under 70. That dropped her into a tie for third, five shots off the lead. Her fellow Americans, Rose Zhang and Nelly Korda, each shot even-par 72.

Korda hit the green in two on the par-5 18th but her round finished as it began: with a three-putt. Korda parred the last for an even-par 72, placing her four shots off the lead when she signed her card. After three bogeys in her first seven holes, she made birdie on Nos. 9, 13 and 14. She never quite got the speed of the greens, though, referring to them as "slow." At the conclusion of her round, she ranked 53rd in the 60-player field in strokes gained: putting.

Victor Perez nearly claimed a medal in the men's event, thrilling the home crowd with a closing 63 for a fourth-place showing. France's Boutier is picking up where he left off. Boutier, who won last year's Amudi Evian Championship, an LPGA major, in Evian-les-Bains, made three birdies over her opening nine holes to grab a share of the early lead.

France's Delacour had the honor of hitting the tournament's first tee shot and split the fairway on her way to a solid par. The finish, though, was a different story. Delacour hit two balls into the water at the par-5 18th and made a triple-bogey 8. She carded a 7-over 79, admitting afterwards that it was a difficult day in trying to control her emotions.

Olympic officials elected to use the back tee box on the par-4 first in order to recreate the theatrical effect the crowd provided the men days prior. The fans, multiplying throughout the morning, were enthusiastic — and the hole was treacherous. With a steady wind and water lining the left side of the fairway, nine tee balls found the hazard (the men had six in Round 1).

Here's how the first hole compared Wednesday vs. the men's opening round.

The reigning gold medalist and current world No. 1 had two three-putts in her first three holes and made a combined 13 feet of putts over her first eight holes.

Korda, however, dropped a 5-footer for birdie on the par-5 ninth and then made a 15-footer to save par at the 10th. At 2 over, she was five off the early lead.