Perrine Delacour has the benefit of being the second to go first at the Paris Olympics. The Frenchwoman has already peppered countryman Matthieu Pavon with first-tee questions. Though Pavon didn’t hit the first shot of the men’s event – that honor went to Victor Perez – the atmosphere was so electric when Pavon teed off that Olympic icon Michael Phelps said the hair on his arms was sticking straight up.
Delacour said Pavon reminded her to breathe.
“He actually struggled the first tee last Thursday,” said Delacour. “He was emotionally like way like super high, which is normal. You don’t expect to have that on the first tee – he did say during the end of the week, he was so much emotion on Thursday that he struggled during the week. That for myself personally helped me, like, OK, I need to put some rest early in the week to be able to carry it for four days in a row.”
The 30-year-old Delacour, ranked 76th in the world, recently won her first Ladies European Tour title at the Dormy Open Helsingborg in Sweden. But it wasn’t that long ago that competing in Paris 2024 was far from Delacour’s mind.
She took a break from the LPGA in 2022, playing her last event in late August, to do some work on her mental health. Delacour, like many players, struggled with the mindset that bad golf made her a bad person and, conversely, good golf made her a good person.
The internal fight left her exhausted.
Perrine Delacour of France tees off on the 10th hole during the third round of the Amundi Evian Championship at Evian Resort Golf Club on July 13, 2024 in Evian-les-Bains, France. (Photo by Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images)
After putting in some work with her team back in France, Delacour returned to the tour and put together a solid 2023 campaign, finishing 56th on the CME points list. Suddenly Paris seemed within sight.
“Even my psychologist, after my good season on the LPGA, I said ‘Hey, 2024, I want to make the Olympics,’ ” recalled Delacour. She’s like, really? I didn’t know that. That’s why I’m proud about that and I’m going to enjoy every moment and if it happens to be in the top three at the end of the week, I’ll be super happy. If not, it’s already a good moment. Playing in front of the family at the Olympics, it’s already pretty good.”
Delacour is one of two Frenchwomen in the field, joined by world No. 7 Celine Boutier, who won an LPGA major on French soil last year. Boutier is certainly the most decorated French…
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