Read a transcript of the post-Round 1 interview with Matthieu Pavon and Céline Boutier.
Read a transcript of the post-Round 1 interview with Matthieu Pavon and Céline Boutier.
Q. Here with Matthieu Pavon and Celine Boutier after the first round of the Grant Thornton Invitational. Just talk through the round today and kind of what worked well for you guys.
MATTHIEU PAVON: I think it was a pretty enjoyable round. Everything was made to be a great day. Played pretty good. I missed like a few putts on the back nine, could have been a very nice score.
Q. Celine, anything to add?
CELINE BOUTIER: Yeah, I thought it was a pretty good day. Got definitely pretty windy towards the second half of the round so we were able to stay patient, didn’t started kind of slow but got a few birdies going. I think we had a few shots in there that I feel like we could have done better, but overall a pretty solid day and looking forward to the rest of the week.
Q. And how much do you guys think your games complement each other, what really stands out?
MATTHIEU PAVON: That’s a good question. I felt like we could have been better for this part of the game, feels like we made putts, we missed putts at the same time. We missed at the same time so we could have been a little bit more complementary, but we’ve got two more days and we’ve got to improve that.
Q. You’re one of a couple pairings out here and both players played in the Olympics this year. How much fun is it this week at Grant Thornton?
CELINE BOUTIER: Yeah, super fun. I think we actually met at the Olympics for the first time, so definitely good memories anytime you can play for your home country or have like a team behind is just always fun. And we know some of the French fans are out watching, so it’s nice to be able to represent and hopefully give them something to cheer for.
Q. What do you like about each other’s game, how do you kind of attack professional golf?
CELINE BOUTIER: I think for me, obviously power. Matt is a very long hitter and it’s been very nice for me to be able to be on the green in 2 on a par 5 and having a lot shorter clubs in. Yeah, the ballstriking has been really fun to watch. I think he’s also a great putter, too. He’s made a lot of solid putts so it was very inspiring to see.
Q. What does this event mean for you guys to the game of golf to have these two tours collide?
CELINE BOUTIER: I mean, it’s so much fun. I think as far as it’s just really cool to be able to interact with the men. We really don’t really cross paths during the year, so it’s fun to be able to interact with some of them, just watch them play, learn a few things here and there and just to be able to be on the team with them is really fun.
Q. Matt, you talked about being inspired by what Celine’s done on the LPGA Tour and your own career. Can you just speak to her game and what you admire about her?
MATTHIEU PAVON: Yeah, a hundred percent. This is why I feel like it’s a great tournament because I’m not sharing a lot of time during the year with Celine and she’s probably the best player ever in France. She won a major, she had a very, very successful career so far. It’s all about like watching what she’s got and what she does better than most other players and that’s very nice for me.
Q. What’s your favorite format of the three different formats this week? What do you enjoy the most?
MATTHIEU PAVON: I don’t know, it’s tough. I think foursome is tough. This is where you have to be really solid, even more if it gets a windy day, but I think scramble is fun because we never play it, to be fair. I think just like the three different formats are really nice like a team.
Q. When you think back on the Olympics, what’s the first thought that comes to mind from the week?
CELINE BOUTIER: From the week? For me it was just the fan support. I think it was just unreal the amount of people that showed and the atmosphere, how much into it they were.
I remember being on the first tee because I was there the week before when the men were playing and thankfully I was about to watch Matt’s tee shot and I was just completely in shock how many people and how they were cheering for us and for them. So it was for me a good preview to kind of prepare myself and get mentally ready. I think, I don’t know about you, but I was in shock about the whole crowd thing was crazy.
MATTHIEU PAVON: Same thing?
Q. Yeah.
MATTHIEU PAVON: Yeah, I think it’s like the tournament where I get the most emotion in my life. I had that little success so far last year, but this was nothing compared to what I expected and what I was I had to face during that tee shot when I opened the Olympics on Thursday. I had almost like find myself crying, like tried to hide it because it was so special. All those people coming for you, cheering for you, singing the national anthem, it was something I never experienced before and I wished to everyone who plays golf and who loves this game to have the chance to one day experience like something like that.
