Maja Stark is relishing the prospect of defending her Estrella Damm Ladies Open presented by Catalunya title at Club de Golf Terramar in Sitges, near Barcelona, which starts tomorrow.
The 22-year-old, who returned to the top of the Race to Costa del Sol Rankings with her fourth LET victory in the Amundi German Masters on Sunday, is looking to move further ahead of fellow Swede Linn Grant in the Race this week.
“I always feel good vibes in Spain. Without Linn here, it’s perfect, because I don’t have to worry about her passing me!” she joked. “It’s fun that we are pushing each other to get better every week.”
Maja, who is five months and 20 days younger than Linn, overtook her compatriot with 2,252.50 points following two wins and five further top 10s midway through the LET season. That included second place in the Trust Golf Asian Mixed Stableford Challenge, where she earned top points as the leading female competitor.
It’s a close contest though, as Linn has earned 2,105.64 points having notched three victories – in the Joburg Ladies Open, Mithra Belgian Ladies Open and Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed (co-sanctioned with the DP World Tour).
“I would love to win the Race to Costa del Sol, because it would bring a lot of prestige and not just for winning it, but for winning against Linn, which would be even better. I have always said that she’s my number one pick to win it, after me,” Maja said.
“We are good friends and we are pushing each other to raise our games. I know that I can beat her and you always want to be the best person from your country. It’s even more important to us, because we want to be the best person born in ’99 and the best person from our school.
“We played together on the National Team and went to the same high school in Helsingborg for four years, before I went to Oklahoma State and Linn went to Arizona State University.”
The Swedes roomed together last week in Germany, but didn’t have time to celebrate Maja’s win as Linn departed on Sunday evening. They discuss possible future successes, including Solheim Cup appearances, potentially at Finca Cortesín in Spain next year, regularly.
“We joke that Suzann Pettersen better put us together in a foursome, because I don’t think we’ve ever lost a foursomes match. We’ve played in the Sunningdale foursomes and European teams together. We also both played on the same PING Junior Solheim Cup team, but with different partners.
“I’ve never met Suzann, but she has messaged me on Instagram, to say congratulations after my wins and she reacts to my stories, so that gives me even more incentive to play well, because I know that she’s watching,” she said.
The defending champion tees off in the first round of the Estrella Damm Ladies Open at 8.52am tomorrow in the company of Solheim Cup legends Carlota Ciganda and Emily Kristine Pedersen.
Carlota, the number one Spanish player, won the Estrella Damm Ladies Open at Club de Golf Terramar in 2019, having lost out in a play-off to Florentyna Parker in 2017.
The Spanish star, ranked 53rd on the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, said: “The Estrella Damm Ladies Open is one of the tournaments that I try not to miss each season. It is always great to play in Spain and have the support of the public, but also, the atmosphere in Sitges is really special.
“This will be my second LET tournament this season after I played in Saudi Arabia and placed fifth. I’m having a somewhat irregular year, so I hope to have a good week and that the Estrella Damm Ladies Open will be a turning point. Playing at home and in front of your friends and family is always one more incentive to try to have a good result,” she said.
Carlota is one of 18 Spanish players in the field, which also includes Ana Pelaéz Triviño, winner of the Comunidad de Madrid Ladies Open, Nuria Iturrioz, Maria Hernandez and Carmen Alonso.
The other stars in the field include recent winners Manon de Roey from Belgium, England’s Meghan MacLaren and South African Lee-Anne Pace.
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