YOU can’t beat the romance, the euphonic allure and the erudite, Gallic nonchalance of the French language.

“It’s been a s**t season,” reflected Isabelle Boineau with the kind of deep, existentialism of Simone de Beauvoir.

It’s a good job we didn’t ask her what she thought of the weather which, at one point, was so astonishingly awful, Lydia Ko peered out of the press centre window at the pitiful scene here at Dundonald and asked, “is it snowing or raining?”

Boineau, the 28-year-old from Marseille, is in Ayrshire to defend her Aberdeen Asset Management Ladies Scottish Open title in a stellar field boasting 15 of the world’s top 25 female campaigners.

With a vastly improved prize fund of £1.15 million, the domestic showpiece which is now co-sanctioned with the LPGA Tour, has enjoyed a considerable financial fillip. Having played only four events on a severely savaged Ladies European Tour schedule this season, Boineau is seeking a timely tonic too. When you’ve been so lightly raced, it’s hard to go up against the best.

“It’s a big frustration and it gets in your head,” she said of this lack of competitive action. “You don’t get a chance to work, basically. I feel like that win here last season was 10 years ago. The feeling I got when I won was like a drug and I need that again.”

Ko, meanwhile, has not tasted that winning feeling for over 12 months. For this remarkable 20-year-old, who has been used to chalking up victories in bountiful abandon, it’s the kind of drought that could lead to a hose pipe ban.

Ko, who has 14 LPGA Tour wins including two major crowns, is not one to be over burdened by the rabid expectations, though.

“With anyone’s career, there are always those little roller coaster rides,” she added. “It’s more about controlling those, so they are just subtle curves and not going from a high to a big low.

“It can be hard to stay patient. But just because I haven’t won in a year or so, it doesn’t mean I’m playing bad golf.

“I just need to focus on what’s going on right now, instead of thinking about what has happened in the past.

“All of us girls, we are all working hard to be the one holding the trophy at the end of a week. It’s not like I’m the special one. It’s not just me. We are all trying.”

One of those keen to get back in the mix again is Scotland’s own standard bearer, Catriona Matthew.

The North Berwick veteran joined the LPGA Tour two years before Ko was even born and, at 47, is still fighting the good fight.

It’s not been a vintage season for Matthew – her best finish in 2017 remains a share of 30th at the HSBC Women’s Champions event back in March – but as she heads into two of the biggest weeks of the year, there is plenty to play for.

The Scottish event and next week’s RICOH Women’s British Open boast sizeable pots and, with next month’s Solheim Cup in mind, this spell could have a bearing on the team.

Matthew, who has made eight appearances in the biennial battle as a player, is a European vice-captain for the tussle with the USA.

She may be well down the qualifying points list but, with four wild cards, there is still time to play her way into the reckoning and show team captain, and close friend, Annika Sorenstam, her worth.

“It’s a big couple of weeks,” said the former Women’s British Open champion, who won the Scottish Open in 2011 and 2013. “Obviously results have been pretty poor for me this season and I need to produce something over this fortnight.

“At the end of the day, it comes down to results but a little bit of experience may help on my part. It depends on the make-up of the team. I just need to go out and play pretty well.”