. Ana Peláez, from Malaga and the highest-ranked Spanish player, starts the final round in sixth place, four strokes behind the German player.
Helen Briem, a young German player with unique physical characteristics for the practice of golf, is on her way to revolutionizing La Sella Open before turning around, who knows, European and world golf.
At just 19 years old and with only a couple of months of professional experience, Helen Briem displays a groundbreaking attitude that allows her to lead this important competition with 18 holes to go. At 12 under par after a spectacular third round of -6, all eyes are on the German golfer, not only because she stands over 1.90 meters tall and possesses a wingspan that allows her to hit the ball with tremendous power, but also because she handles all kinds of situations with surprising maturity.
On the third day of competition, surrounded by seasoned players, Helen Briem completely blew up the leaderboard to take the top spot. Sixty-six strokes were the reason, an outstanding performance both in style—how well the German plays!—and in substance, a seemingly endless succession of birdies that inspires equal parts admiration and envy.
In the third round, she racked up eight, partially offset by two bogeys, demonstrating why she has already won four professional tournaments on the LET Access Series promotional circuit in just four months. Ambitious, she now aims to add her first Ladies European Tour event to her burgeoning resume, with Italy's Virginia Elena Carta trailing by a mere one stroke, promising a thrilling final round.
The group of six Spanish players still in the competition also suffered from Helen Briem's impressive performance. Three of them best weathered the storm: Ana Peláez from Málaga, Harang Lee from Cantabria, and Luna Sobrón from the Balearic Islands.
Special mention goes to Ana Peláez, who finished sixth after a remarkable round of 69 strokes, hampered by an untimely bogey on the 18th hole. This bogey, however, does not dampen her spirits as she heads into the final battle for the title, which is undoubtedly within her grasp given that the gap with Helen Briem is entirely manageable: “You learn from your mistakes. I played my heart out, and most of the decisions I made were smart.”.
In eleventh and twelfth place, Harang Lee and Luna Sobrón are on the verge of achieving a remarkable feat and, as a consolation prize, have a chance of a great result at La Sella Open. Their rounds of 69 confirm this, generating positive feelings for both players. “It’s a matter of confidence, that’s why I’m here, because I’ve fought for it,” the Cantabrian golfer summarized.
For her part, Nuria Iturrioz, the reigning champion, once again lowered the par of the course (71 strokes), but without the necessary strength to find a place at the top of the leaderboard, while Marta Martín and Blanca Fernández made more mistakes than successes this time, all of them, Spanish and foreign, looking to the heights generated by the hurricane-like passage of Helen Briem.
AROUND THE GREEN
Rain makes an appearance at La Sella Open
A severe storm, similar to those that swept across much of Spain, forced the suspension of play just half an hour after the final group teed off. This group consisted of the three co-leaders, all tied at 7 under par: Australian Kirsten Rudgeley, Czech Sara Kouskova, and Italian Virginia Elena Carta. Special mention goes to the Czech player, who in that short period carded two birdies on the first two holes, taking the provisional lead at -9. German Helen Briem and Japanese Ayako Uehara were close behind at -8.
Ana Peláez, at La Sella instead of LPGA
Special mention must be made of the fact that Ana Peláez, one of Spain's leading professional golfers, is competing in this year's La Sella Open. The Málaga native revealed that she chose to play in this tournament instead of trying her luck in this week's event on the Ladies ATP Tour, the Kroger Queen City Championship in Ohio. "I felt I had to be here; I had and still have good vibes. And it's also an honor to support a tournament like La Sella Open, where the players are treated so well.".
Helen Briem has already won in Spain three times
The youthful energy of German golfer Helen Briem, just 19 years old, hasn't stopped her from already winning important tournaments on the professional circuit, even while still an amateur. The quality of her game has already been felt in Spain, where she won the PING Junior Solheim Cup at Finca Cortesín in 2023 with the European team, as well as the European Ladies' Team Championship this summer of 2024 with Germany. Furthermore, as an amateur, she also triumphed in a LETAS tournament in 2024, specifically the one held at the El Fresnillo course in Ávila. Now, she's aiming for a much bigger challenge: winning La Sella Open, a LET tournament with a total prize purse of one million euros.
