- Catriona Matthew, European captain, is playing for the first time since her team’s Solheim Cup victory at Gleneagles
- Spanish Solheim Cup star Carlota Ciganda is also present at Terramar Golf Club in Sitges, Spain
- The 2017 champion Florentyna Parker returns after beating Anna Nordqvist and Ciganda in an intense playoff
- Nine recent tournament winners and order of merit leader Esther Henseleit in the field
Victorious Solheim Cup captain Catriona Matthew and European team member Carlota Ciganda are set to light up this week’s Estrella Damm Mediterranean Ladies Open, which is being held at Terramar Golf Club in Sitges, Spain, on September 26-29, for the third consecutive year.
The world number 12 Ciganda, who earned two points in the recent Solheim Cup, memorably defeating Danielle Kang in the first singles match, is the highest ranked player in the field and has an excellent record in the Estrella Damm Mediterranean Ladies Open. She tied for second in 2017 and was eighth in 2018, so will be hoping to make it third time lucky this year.
Ciganda, the LET order of merit winner and rookie of the year in 2012, has won six professional titles, including three on the LET, two on the LPGA and one on the LET Access Series, but her best individual finish so far in 2019 was a tie for second in the Bank of Hope Founders Cup in March. She will be looking for her seventh professional title and first in three years, since 2016.
Matthew, meanwhile, has 11 professional career titles and will be looking for her first individual tournament victory in six years, since the 2013 Ladies’ Scottish Open.
There are six former Solheim Cup players in the field in total, with the addition of Florentyna Parker and Emily Kristine Pedersen (2017), Linda Wessberg (2007) and Trish Johnson (1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2005 and 2007).
Parker won this, her third LET title, two years ago to qualify for Annika Sorenstam’s Solheim Cup team in Des Moines, Iowa, holding off the might of Cup veterans Anna Nordqvist and Ciganda after four extra playoff holes at the picturesque Terramar Golf Club, which occupies an enviable position adjacent to the sparkling Mediterranean Sea and beaches.
The field is bolstered by the inclusion of the order of merit leader Esther Henseleit, the 2016 order of merit winner Beth Allen and recent tournament champions Carly Booth, Diksha Dagar, Meghan MacLaren, Marianne Skarpnord, Becky Morgan, Astrid Vayson De Pradenne, Camille Chevalier and Aditi Ashok, who tied for fifth in the tournament 12 months ago.
TV input and retransmission
The event will be broadcasted locally on TV3, Andalucía TV, Movistar Golf and Teledeporte for all those who cannot travel to Terramar Golf Club, as well as internationally via the LET’s broadcast partners and live streaming.
ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES
Thursday, 5 pm: Footgolf Exhibition
Two players from FC Barcelona and two from FC Espanyol will join four LET golfers including Carlota Ciganda for a fun game of footgolf, which is free for all to attend.
