Carlota Ciganda adds the Andalucía Costa del Sol Spanish Open to her list of successes. She closed the last round brilliantly with 67 shots, 4 ahead of her pursuer, Swede Maja Stark. Both achieved a birdie at the 18th hole in front of a huge crowd gathered at Los Naranjos Golf Club to enjoy the very best of ladies golf. Third place went to the Thai Atthaya Thitikul who also won the Order of Merit Race to Costa del Sol, plus Rookie of the Year. Nuria Iturrioz, with 65 shots, shot the best round of the course, finishing in 5th position.
Everything on Sunday was perfect. Wonderful weather – sunny but no wind – and the magnificent condition of the course combined to produce some excellent score cards: add to this the fabulous shots played by the professionals and it all contributed to the huge enjoyment of the crowd assembled at Los Naranjos Golf. In spite of the difficulty of the course which had been carefully prepared by the green keepers team in order to exact the highest level of accuracy, the standard of Nuria Iturrioz’s game triumphed on the small, fast greens, enabling her to achieve the best score card in the history of the course. Even with a bogey, the player from the Balearics scored a 65 that will keeps its place in the history books.
Carlota Ciganda started as leader with a 10 under par, proving again the excellent quality of her golf, returning a score without bogeys, with an eagle and three birdies. At the end, her 15 under par score was indisputable for her pursuers. Swede Maja Stark also finished her round without bogeys and with a birdie at the 18th. The recent winner of the Estrella Damm Ladies Open 2021 finished in second position after a magnificent round of 66.
The Thai Atthaya Thitikul, only 18 years old, was not able to capitalize on the advantageous position she started from, but due to it, even without a score as spectacular as her companions, she finished up sharing podium with them and reaching the third place.
Fátima Fernández Cano, who just got her card for the LPGA, came up in 4th position. Local players Ana Peláez and Laura Gómez Ruis finished up tying in 11th position.
Players and organizers all appeared very pleased with the condition of the course and its maintenance, and the care everyone received from the staff during the four days of the tournament which was the last event of the 2021 season of the Ladies European Tour.