. Carlota Ciganda, sublime for most of the course, finished her third round with 65 strokes.
Carlota Ciganda, the protagonist of a sublime golf spectacle, has challenged Germany's Laura Fuenfstueck to an intense one-on-one duel to be decided on the final day of the Estrella Damm Mediterranean Ladies Open, with the trophy and glory as the grand reward for a tournament that transmits spectacle from all sides.
The Navarrese golfer, excellent in almost all of her actions during the third round, was the brave, determined and admirable Carlota Ciganda of the big occasions, minimizing to two strokes the four advantage with which she started on the 1st hole.
After a great birdie on the 2nd hole and good solutions to her aggressive game in the following holes, when the ball was deflected into a tangled and powerful rough, Carlota Ciganda placed the ball on the tee of the 7th hole before changing the fate of her round, transforming it into an exceptional golfing performance.
A powerful drive of over 300 meters, almost literally smashing the ball, gave way to an excellent approach shot before scoring an eagle that provoked the first roar of admiration from his numerous fans.
The best, however, was yet to come, right after two putts that literally went wide by just a couple of centimeters on holes 8 and 9 provoked loud 'oohs' from his loyal troop of cheerleaders.
The anxiety generated gave way to a sincere fascination that could be heard around the green, when noisy applause rewarded the sensational actions in the next three holes, a string of successes materialized with birdies that was reproduced again on the 14th hole, when Carlota Ciganda, unrestrained, at a veritable speed of vertigo, caught the German Laura Fuenfstueck, who nevertheless turned around like a cat on its back, seemingly unscathed by the flood of winning proposals from the Navarrese player.
In fact, the German golfer sighed with relief when Carlota Ciganda conceded, also by just a few centimeters, once victorious putts that transformed her actions into bogeys on holes 15 and 17, minimized, however, by a timely birdie on the 16th that again generated pressure on Laura Fuenfstueck.
The young German woman, with hardly any experience in professional golf, with a lackluster resume, nevertheless displayed a surprising coolness and ability to accumulate successes, five birdies and only one bogey on her way that allow her to continue leading the competition with an iron fist.
In fact, a feeling of relief washed over Carlota Ciganda when, on the interview set, glancing at the latest actions of her great rival on a giant screen, she saw her miss a simple putt that turned into a tie on the 17th hole. "She's a young player, yes, but very good, who hits the ball very straight, and that's essential on this course," declared Carlota Ciganda calmly, that Carlota Ciganda who feels she has before her one of those great opportunities to continue writing her magnificent golfing story in her own hand.
Beware of the pursuing group
At the end of the third round, Finland's Sanna Nuutinen sits in third place at 5 under par, five behind the leader and three behind Carlota Ciganda, a significant gap that increases the feeling that the German and the Spaniard will have a head-to-head battle on the final day. Also in this leading group is Germany's Esther Henseleit, at 4 under par, currently ranked number 1 in Europe, which also makes her a contender for the title, along with Laura Fuenfstueck and Carlota Ciganda, at -10 and -8, respectively.
María Hernández, once again solidity and conviction
For the third consecutive time, María Hernández demonstrated the quality of her play. With previous rounds of 71 and 71, the Navarrese golfer completed her third round with a 70, placing her in a very respectable seventh position. “I played very solidly all day today, I got them very close, and although I got a bit tangled up at the end, I’m very happy,” she summarized with satisfaction after distinguishing herself as the second-best Spanish player in the competition.
A little further back, in fifteenth place, are Beatriz Recari –with less accuracy than in the first two days despite playing very solidly throughout– and Carmen Alonso after both using 70 strokes, with good options to improve in the final round, the same objective pursued by Luna Sobrón –45th place– and the amateur Marta García Llorca, in 52nd place.
A hole-in-one that has gone viral
The 17th hole at Golf Terramar was the scene of the shot of the tournament on the second day. Australian Whitney Hillier couldn't believe she had holed out until she was told from the green, at which point her caddie, the renowned former English football referee Mike Dean,
He ran to embrace her to the applause of his rivals. A gesture that the BBC and Amazon Prime broadcast on their respective news programs and television shows, reaching over half a million views on social media in just a few minutes.
Masters of ceremonies before the club members
On both the second and third days, after the rounds, some of the players participating in the tournament returned to the driving range, this time to give two clinics to club members. The first clinic took place in the approach area with some of the women from Terramar Golf, who enjoyed the instruction of Silvia Bañón and Emie Peronnin. The second clinic, at the end of the third day, focused on providing all kinds of tips to the club's youngest members—an excellent initiative to promote golf.
Sponsors are committed to women's golf and
Companies
Apart from the sponsorship of Estrella Damm and the institutions that collaborate on the event -Generalitat de Catalunya, Diputació de Barcelona, Ayuntamiento de Sitges, RFEG, Federación Catalana de Golf-, special mention should also be made of the other companies that contribute to the celebration of the tournament, such as the co-sponsors Finisher and Grupo Romeu
and from the suppliers Bargosa, Kyocera, Sub70, Fever-tree, Greenmowers and Vilamobil Audi.
TV entry and broadcast
The ticket to witness the show of
Estrella Damm Mediterranean Ladies Open
It is free -right of admission reserved- during the competition days and the event will be broadcast by TV3, Andalucía TV, Movistar Golf, Teledeporte and LaLigaSportsTV for all those who cannot travel to the
Terramar Golf Club. Additionally, the tournament has the participation of Holagolf and TV3 Esports3 as official media outlets.,
Movistar+Golf and Radio Marca.
Additionally, the Ladies European Tour production company is responsible for broadcasting the images on various television channels in 105 countries.
SOURCE: Tournament Organization
