Race to Costa Del Sol Archives - Golf Digest Middle East

Morgane Metraux looks to end LET season on a high

Golf Digest Middle East — Sun, 27 Nov 2022 07:01:59 +0000

By GolfDigetME.com
LET winner Morgane Metraux holds a two-shot lead with one round left to go at the Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España at Alferini Golf.

The 25-year-old began the day a few shots off the lead and fired a round of 67 to put herself on 14-under at the top of the leaderboard.

Metraux, who won the 2022 Ladies Italian Open, began her round with back-to-back birdies on two and three before rolling in two more on nine and 10.

After a dropped shot on the 14th, the Swiss star finished the day in style with three birdies in four holes to lead heading into the final day.

Three birdies in the last four holes for Morgane Metraux leaves the Swiss two in front heading into the final day in Spain#RaiseOurGame | #OpenDeEspana pic.twitter.com/Y6mEymctr3

— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) November 26, 2022

“I’m very happy with my round,” she said. “Yesterday, I didn’t putt so well so it was great to see some putts go in and to roll it a bit better. The long game has been really solid all week, I’m really happy with today.

“I played really well two weeks ago on the LPGA at Pelican to keep my card over there. I was pretty confident coming in here and the conditions are really soft which is something I enjoy. I came in with no pressure and to enjoy it and it’s going really well.

“My game has definitely been trending this year, through the whole year and to finish the season this well — we have one more day and we’ll see what happens. I’m really confident and to see my game in that sort of shape at the end of the season is really fun.”

Three players are in a tie for second place after 54 holes with Sweden’s Caroline Hedwall, Ireland’s Leona Maguire and Spanish amateur Cayetana Fernandez all on 12-under.

Defending champion Carlota Ciganda sits only three shots back on 11-underin outright fifth place.

Three players are in a share of sixth place with Spanish amateur Carla Tejedo Mulet, England’s Cara Gainer and 2022 Race to Costa del Sol leader Linn Grant on nine-under-par.

One shot further back in T9 are four players with Swedish duo Maja Stark and Sofie Bringner, Czechia’s Klara Spilkova and Dutch star Anne Van Dam on eight-under.

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Amateur Fernandez flies the flag at LET season-ending Open de Espana

Golf Digest Middle East — Sat, 26 Nov 2022 09:46:59 +0000

By GolfDigestME.com
Spanish amateur Cayetana Fernandez fired a sensational second round of 65 to lead the Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España at the halfway stage.

The 17-year-old began the day on three-under and soon found some momentum making three consecutive birdies on holes four through six to make the turn in 33.

And Fernandez, who was part of the triumphant Team Europe at the 2021 Junior Solheim Cup, rolled in further birdies on 11, 13, 14, 15 and 18 to put her in pole position on 11-under heading into the weekend.

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Spanish amateur Cayetana Fernandez fires a sensational 65 (-8) to move to the top of the @Openfemenino leaderboard on -11 #RaiseOurGame | #OpenDeEspaña pic.twitter.com/8KnxRtD0sM

— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) November 25, 2022

“It makes me very happy,” said the teenager. “I played an amazing round today. I made a lot of putts, and I enjoyed it a lot.

“I’m very happy and I’m glad to be here and tomorrow I hope to continue playing like this and I hope to get in the last group on the last day.

“Playing the LET tournament in Madrid allowed me to get to know professional tournaments because they are very different than the amateur ones. I am nervous also, it’s a thing you can’t control but if you control it well it’s okay to have some nerves on course.

“Yesterday I was more nervous because I played with Azahara [Muñoz] and she’s a really good player. Today I was more relaxed, my sister is my caddie, so she was speaking with me all the time and I played with Carla another Spanish amateur. I was relaxed until 15 when all the cameras were there, but I finished with a birdie so I can’t be happier than I am.”

In second place and just one shot behind is 2022 Race to Costa del Sol leader Linn Grant, after she produced another round of 68 at Alferini Golf.

It was an error-free day for the four-time LET winner who made back-to-back birdies on eight and nine, before rolling in another on 11 and finishing with two more on 16 and 17 to put her on 10-under.

Grant said: “I had a bit of a better start today than yesterday, still there’s a lot of birdie chances out there and I feel like I missed out on a couple.

“It was still a good round though and I feel excited about the weekend. It was stress-free in terms of not doing anything terrible, but still stressful in terms of not getting the ball where I wanted it.

“I feel like you hit pretty good shots onto the green and you think a putt is going to go one way and it goes the other, I’m not sure if it’s because a bit softer now it’s in the afternoon but they’re hard to read. I hope I have a better handle on the greens, but I’m not sure. I think I have to work on them a little bit.”

Linn Grant ? Birdies on par fives#RaiseOurGame | #OpenDeEspana pic.twitter.com/9JQMWD73yX

— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) November 25, 2022

Ireland’s Leona Maguire sits in third place after 36 holes having produced another solid round on day two, signing for a bogey-free 69 to be two shots behind the leader on nine-under.

Four players are in a tie for fourth place on eight-under-par with Swedish duo Maja Stark and Caroline Hedwall alongside Switzerland’s Morgane Metraux and England’s Cara Gainer.

It was another round of 69 for Stark, who sits second in the 2022 Race to Costa del Sol, with six birdies and two bogeys on her card.

“I’m a little bit disappointed, it was pretty much exactly like yesterday,” said the five-time LET winner. “I hit a lot of fairways, lots of greens — I only missed one today — but I didn’t make any putts at all.

“It’s a good thing that I’m frustrated with four-under because if I was happy then I think I’d settle but I’m ready for the chase this weekend.”

Stark needs to finish ahead of rival Grant to have a chance of winning the Race to Costa del Sol title.

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Gainer leads after Day 1 of Andalucia Costa Del Sol Open De Espana

Matt Smith — Fri, 25 Nov 2022 05:48:03 +0000

By Matt Smith
While Linn Grant and Maja Stark were fighting it out for bragging rights on the Ladies European Tour season-long Race to Costa Del Sol rankings race, it was Cara Gainer who was the unexpected leader after Day 1 of the Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España at Alferini Golf.

The Englishwoman shot a 66 to take a one-shot lead over home hope Carlota Ciganda, signing for seven-under thanks to nine birdies and two bogeys.

“Overall, I’m really really pleased,” Gainer said. “I couldn’t have asked for a better start. I got it going, I was quite patient, I hit the ball lovely today and holed a few putts.

“It played very different to the practice days. We were having 20mph winds and we really had no wind today and it was a lot warmer. The ball was flying further, we had one or two clubs less in on every hole today which makes it a bit easier to hit it close.

“I would give myself a seven or eight out of 10 for the season. I’ve had some really solid results, but not quite all the way there. It’s nice to get off to a good start this week, still plenty of golf to go.”

It was a slow start for Ciganda but she got on a hot streak on the back nine rolling in six consecutive birdies to put herself firmly near the top of the leaderboard.

SIX IN A ROW!!@carlotagolf has produced a masterclass on this back nine today#RaiseOurGame | #OpenDeEspana pic.twitter.com/7wpERFODD5

— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) November 24, 2022

“I’m pretty happy,” said the six-time LET winner. “After that double bogey, I thought three or four-under was a good score today.

“I knew I had those two par-fives to finish so I thought if I could get a couple of birdies before 16 and 17. I started making some good putts on 13 to 18 and with six birdies to finish, I’m obviously very happy.

“I love playing here it’s so nice to see familiar faces, to see family and friends. I love playing in front of them. It’s always special to play in Spain as well, so I’m just happy to be here and finish the year here.”

Four players are shared for third place with Switzerland’s Morgane Metraux, France’s Anais Meyssonnier, Ireland’s Leona Maguire and Sweden’s Linn Grant all on five-under-par.

Leader of the 2022 Race to Costa del Sol, Grant said: “I started off a bit nervous and stiff, I didn’t know what to do for the first couple of holes being two-over after three,” said the four-time LET winner. “I found something and got it going and finished on five-under which I’m very happy with.

“I think I built this tournament up a bit wanting to perform well and win. Going out there with Maja [Stark] and Carlota knowing that they would probably play good, I knew I had to play well as well and I think that pressure took over the first couple of holes.

“It feels nice to be ahead of Maja for now, even though I like to play with her, and she’ll say the same, it’s good to be one shot ahead going into tomorrow.”

Nine players sit one shot further back in a tie for seventh place including Swedish duo Stark and Jessica Karlsson, South Africans Lee-Anne Pace and Casandra Alexander, English pair Hannah Burke and Alice Hewson, Spain’s Nuria Iturrioz and Azahara Muñoz, and Dutch star Anne Van Dam.

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Pedersen caps ‘strange, weird’ year with sweet Saudi slam

Kent Gray — Fri, 20 Nov 2020 04:25:03 +0000

By Kent Gray
While most of the rest of us would happily press fast-forward to get this challenging year over and done with, Emily Kristine Pedersen understandably is in no rush to see the back of 2020.

The past 10 days in particular have been a dream with the 24-year-old completing a sweep of all available titles at Saudi Arabia’s historic LET double-header on Thursday. Just four days after capturing the inaugural Saudi Ladies Team International, Pedersen wrapped up the team and individual titles at the Saudi Ladies Team International.

The Dane departs Royal Greens Golf & Country Club with $207, 500 and the LET’s season-long Race to Costa Del Sol title sown up with next week’s season-ending Andalucia Costa Del Sol Open De Espana still to be played.

“It’s been a strange year for all of us with COVID but while everyone’s saying it is the worst year, I’m having the best year ever, so that’s a little weird but I am really happy,” said Pedersen.

Thursday’s celebration was a far cry from her week in Dubai when she opened the OMEGA Dubai Moonlight Classic with an 82, eventually finished T-41 in the 56-strong field and quickly figured out she was putting too much pressure on herself as the spectre of becoming LET No.1 loomed.

“I obviously really, really like the course here,” Pedersen said of Royal Greens. “Our tactics were great for the two weeks and we stuck to it. I can’t believe what’s happened this season. I was confident I could get back to where I was but I couldn’t imagine that it would be like this.”

Team Pedersen, consisting of Michele Thomson (Scotland), Cassandra Hall (South Africa) and talented English amateur Matt Selby snatched victory in the team event with Hall’s clutch birdie on the closing birdie getting them to -40 for the 54 hole event. 40-under par and a share of $97,500 for the professionals.

Team Pedersen featuring Michele Thomson, Casandra Hall and amateur Matt-Selby.

“It’s been unbelievable, I was absolutely delighted when I heard Emily picked me,” said Thomson who shared in a third of the $97,500 prize for the professionals.

“She’s one of the best players I think I’ve ever played with and we just wanted to make some birdies out there today. Although I am about 10 years older than her, I have learnt a lot from her and I’ve gained a great friend this week.”

Team Kyriacou (Steph Kyriacou, Pia Babnik, Manon Gidali) and Team De Roey (Manon De Roey, Eleanor Givens, Linette Littau Durr Holmslykke) finished one back on 39-under for a share of second.

Pedersen’s final round 67 sealed victory at 14-under to finish two shots clear of Aussie Stephanie Kyriacou, Dutchwoman Anne Van Dam and Spaniard Luna Sobron Galmes.

Outstanding 19-year-old Kyriacou capped an impressive Saudi Arabian display by setting a new course record with a brilliant 63 that included two eagles and five birdies. The Australian, who started 2020 in the amateur ranks, has now all but sealed the LET Rookie of the Year title.

Stephanie Kyriacou.

“It was obviously a great day,” said Kyriacou. “I started with a birdie, wanted to keep the momentum going then holed out on the 14 and then chipped in on the last for eagle which was a great way to finish the year.

“I hadn’t thought about the Rookie of the Year title until my friend told me about it and then was like, ‘That’s cool, it would be great to win’. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity.”

H.E. Yasir O. Al-Rumayyan, Chairman of the Saudi Golf Federation and Golf Saudi, was thrilled with the trailblazing 10 days in King Abdullah Economic City.

“This has been an historic time for Saudi Arabia and women’s golf, and we could not be prouder. I am confident this won’t be the last we hear of exciting team formats in the professional game.”

Saudi Ladies Team International – Final Results

Team
-40: Team Pederson
-39: Team Kyriacou, Team De Roey
-37: Team Mehmet
-36: Team Pace
-33: Team Dimmock

Individual
-14: Emily Kristine Pedersen (Denmark)
-12: Stephanie Kyriacou (Australia), Anne van Dam (The Netherlands), Luna Sobron Galmes (Spain)
-9: Charley Hull (England)
-8: Eleanor Givens (England), Georgia Hall (England)
-7: Ursula Wikstrom (Finland), Johanna Gustavsson (Sweden)

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