Olympic hopeful Emma Spitz will be looking to get over her playoff defeat to friend Alexandra Försterling last week by going one better in the Jabra Ladies Open.
The 24-year-old from Vienna is determined to land her maiden professional victory at the Evian Resort in France.
She is fairly tired after a hectic week in Germany, which included playing in the 36-hole US Women’s Open Sectional Qualifier on Monday. However, with another big performance, she could earn her first professional tournament title on Saturday and, with it, secure her place in the Amundi Evian Championship, the only major in continental Europe, to be played at the same venue in July.
“Last week boosted my confidence and I hope I can keep it up,” said Spitz, who had a prolific amateur career, representing Europe twice in both the PING Junior Solheim Cup and the Junior Ryder Cups and becoming the first Austrian to win the R&A’s Girls Amateur Championship, in 2018.
The second-season LET player continued: “Last week was great. It was very nice to finally be in contention again. I played in the final group on an invite two years ago but since then I hadn’t really had this feeling again. It was really nice to be in that position. Obviously, I would have loved to have won but being there felt so much better than everything else I’ve done in the last two years.
“I think it was really cool that we were shown on Sky Sports, so at home, the whole golf club was watching us, and I’ve had so many messages from people and my parents have, too. My phone was half exploding. It is really nice to hear that people are interested in watching us.
“I feel like I’ve been playing well all year and hitting good shots. I just haven’t been able to get it together for a whole tournament. Last week boosted my confidence and I hope I can keep it up.”
Spitz, who is on track to represent Austria in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, is also well placed to achieve her goal of finishing within the top 10 in the LET Order of Merit.
Placed 10th after the Amundi German Masters, she stands a strong chance of qualification for the Amundi Evian Championship, too, as the top seven within the top 20 on the LET Order of Merit not already exempt, as of the commitment deadline of June 25th, will qualify.
“The top 10 on the LET Ranking is my big goal for the year and it hasn’t felt super close. It feels closer now, being in 10th position, but the season is still early. If I can keep doing what I’ve done so far this year, I think it’s going in a good direction.
“I played here last year and I also played around 10 years ago in the Evian Junior tournament. It’s always beautiful here. The course is a lot softer than it was in Germany, where it was super firm, so that will change how you play some shots but I think it’s going to be an enjoyable week.”
Spitz will tee off at 8.44am in the first round on Thursday, in the company of England’s Gabriella Cowley and Aunchisa Utama of Thailand. The 54-hole tournament concludes on Saturday.
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