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Carlota Ciganda of Spain fired a superb 67 to move one stroke clear of the field going into the final round of the Deloitte Ladies Open in Holland.
The Ladies European Tour’s leading rookie from Pamplona gave herself the chance to earn her maiden win on the circuit – and a late birthday present having turned 22 on Friday – after reaching a six under par total at Golfclub Broekpolder on the outskirts of Rotterdam.
Ciganda posted six birdies and one bogey in ideal conditions and is one ahead of Finland’s Ursula Wikstrom, who shot a second round of 68.
England’s Florentyna Parker, who won the tournament in 2010, but finished tied for 47th last year, remained on four under in outright third place after a steady second round of 72.
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| Carlota hits a superb approach shot through the trees to the 15th green |
Ciganda made a scintillating start to her second round with three birdies in her first six holes on a fine afternoon with a gentle breeze.
Another birdie on the 10th took her into a share of the lead with the early leader Wikstrom, before she stalled with a three-putt bogey at the 12th hole.
It looked as though another birdie was on the cards at 15 after she hit a superb 130-yard approach shot to the green from the rough amongst the trees on the right hand side of the fairway. She somehow managed to find a route through the trees and over the water to land the ball just five feet from the pin, but missed the putt resulting in a par.
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| Carlota and her caddie Javi Urquizu, from San Sebastian, celebrate the result |
At the following hole, the par-three 16th, she almost won the BMW after her tee shot pitched in the cup, however the ball ricocheted out again to around five feet and she again missed the putt.
The birdie putts finally dropped on holes 17 and 18, where she made a great up and down from the side of the green, giving her on looking mother and uncle reason to smile.
“I played very well today, felt very comfortable starting with two birdies on the first and second hole. I hit it very close, like one metre on the first and two metres on the second. I played very solid golf, hitting a lot of fairways. I hit 18 greens, so that was very good and then I made one bogey on hole number 12,” Ciganda said.
“On the back nine I missed three putts of one and a half metres long, but then I also made some good ones so I think golf equals everything at the end and so I’m happy with the round.”
Ciganda’s willingness to attack the pins makes her an exciting player to watch and she explained: “Normally if I see a little hole or something I like to try to hit it. I’m aggressive and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. This time I was lucky and it worked, so I hit a great shot and then I missed the short putt but it was a good par. Then on the next one, 16, I pitched it in the hole so the hole was damaged and the referee came and repaired it. That was like one metre long and then I missed it but finished with two birdies on 17 and 18.”
Ciganda has already won twice since turning professional a year ago, most recently the Spanish championship at Talayuela in late April and also at the Murcia Ladies Open on the 2011 LET Access Series.
On her approach to the final round, she said: “I’m just going to go out and have fun. I’m playing good golf and enjoying it a lot. I love the tour and everyone is very nice. I’m very comfortable with my caddie as well. We are having fun together and we’ll try to go out there and try our best, have a great day and go one shot at a time and play golf. I’m sure I’m going to feel some tension or adrenaline but I think that’s good and I know that I can play good with that so I will go out and try to have a great day.”
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| Finland’s Ursula Wikstrom will be playing for her first LET win |
Wikstrom will be targeting her maiden victory as a professional having finished as a runner-up four times: twice at the Finnair Masters; at the 2009 Open de France and three weeks ago in Turkey.
She has totally remodelled her swing this year and said: “I’m still looking for my victory. This is my ninth year on the tour and I haven’t got the victory. I’ve been close a few times but that would be the one thing that would be nice to get.”
On her second round, she added: “I wasn’t hitting the ball that great but I was giving myself birdie chances and only made one bogey on 12. I started from the 10th. Otherwise it was pretty steady all the time.”
Parker was happy enough with her position and said: “One bogey, one birdie and then I had a few chances but bogeyed 16 and 17. I eagled the last, so level par. I played a lot better today, I thought, than yesterday, so I’m feeling pretty confident. I think the afternoon greens, maybe my putting suffered because of that, but I’m feeling good for tomorrow.”
A cluster of seven players ended on three under, including Dewi-Claire Schreefel from the Netherlands, while home favourite Christel Boeljon slipped back from a share of seventh into a tie for 15th on one under after shooting 73.
LET rookie, Esther Choe from the United States, had a hole in one on the 13th using a hybrid club.
England’s Lauren Taylor and Karlijn Zaanen from the Netherlands both made the cut on the mark at four over par and will be fighting for leading amateur honours on Sunday.
Deloitte Ladies Open
Golfclub Broekpolder, Netherlands
1-3 June 2012
Scores at the end of round 2:
138 – Carlota Ciganda (ESP) 71 67
139 – Ursula Wikstrom (FIN) 71 68
140 – Florentyna Parker (ENG) 68 72
141 – Dewi Claire Schreefel (NLD) 71 70, Caroline Afonso (FRA) 71 70, Lee-Anne Pace (ZAF) 71 70, Felicity Johnson (ENG) 70 71, Elena Giraud (FRA) 68 73, Henrietta Zuel (ENG) 72 69, Carin Koch (SWE) 71 70
142 – Alison Whitaker (AUS) 70 72, Veronica Zorzi (ITA) 73 69, Line Vedel (DNK) 76 66, Stacy Lee Bregman (ZAF) 73 69
143 – Christel Boeljon (NLD) 70 73, Louise Larsson (SWE) 72 71, Becky Brewerton (WAL) 72 71, Mikaela Parmlid (SWE) 72 71, Caroline Masson (DEU) 71 72, Joanna Klatten (FRA) 72 71
144 – Rebecca Hudson (ENG) 73 71, Anais Maggetti (CHE) 72 72, Rebecca Artis (AUS) 73 71, Julie Maisongrosse (FRA) 72 72, Karen Lunn (AUS) 68 76, Celine Palomar (FRA) 72 72, Hannah Burke (ENG) 69 75, Stefania Croce (ITA) 71 73
145 – Lydia Hall (WAL) 74 71, Nontaya Srisawang (THA) 73 72, Anne-Lise Caudal (FRA) 71 74, Jenni Kuosa (FIN) 71 74, Stacey Keating (AUS) 74 71, Frances Bondad (AUS) 74 71, Mianne Bagger (DNK) 71 74, Lynnette Brooky (NZL) 72 73, Kendall Dye (USA) 71 74, Sophie Giquel-bettan (FRA) 75 70, Helen Alfredsson (SWE) 76 69, Marjet Van Der Graaff (NLD) 72 73, Diana Luna (ITA) 69 76
146 – Gwladys Nocera (FRA) 76 70, Sophie Walker (ENG) 72 74, Sahra Hassan (WAL) 72 74, Liebelei Lawrence (LUX) 77 69, Marion Ricordeau (FRA) 72 74
147 – Clare Queen (SCO) 72 75, Rebecca Codd (IRL) 75 72, Rachel Bailey (AUS) 74 73, Steffi Kirchmayr (DEU) 68 79, Jessica Yadloczky (USA) 73 74, Connie Chen (ZAF) 75 72, Esther Choe (USA) 76 71, Julie Greciet (FRA) 75 72, Anja Monke (DEU) 70 77, Caroline Westrup (SWE) 76 71, Beth Allen (USA) 75 72, Sophie Sandolo (ITA) 74 73, Maria Ohlsson (SWE) 76 71
148 – Lauren Taylor (ENG) 72 76, Maria Beautell (ESP) 76 72, Jade Schaeffer (FRA) 73 75, Eleanor Givens (ENG) 75 73, Karlijn Zaanen (NLD) 75 73, Marianne Skarpnord (NOR) 72 76, Trish Johnson (ENG) 75 73, Georgina Simpson (ENG) 74 74, Linda Wessberg (SWE) 74 74
Missed the cut:-
149 – Tania Elosegui (ESP) 74 75, Ashleigh Simon (ZAF) 81 68, Cassandra Kirkland (FRA) 78 71, Danielle Montgomery (ENG) 76 73, Tandi Cuningham (ZAF) 72 77, Chrisje De Vries (NLD) 75 74, Kylie Walker (SCO) 71 78, Caroline Martens (NOR) 74 75, Holly Aitchison (ENG) 78 71
150 – Louise Stahle (SWE) 74 76, Kyra Van Leeuwen (NLD) 76 74, Elizabeth Bennett (ENG) 76 74, Stephanie Na (AUS) 73 77, Lien Willems (BEL) 79 71
151 – Stefanie Michl (AUT) 77 74, Titiya Plucksataporn (THA) 77 74, Margherita Rigon (ITA) 78 73, Malene Jorgensen (DNK) 74 77, Elisabeth Esterl (DEU) 74 77, Marieke Nivard (NLD) 77 74, Manon De Roey (BEL) 75 76, Dawn Shockley (USA) 74 77, Carmen Alonso (ESP) 76 75
152 – Monique Smit (ZAF) 77 75, Kiran Matharu (ENG) 81 71, Laura Cabanillas (ESP) 77 75, Rachel Jennings (ENG) 74 78, Caroline Rominger (CHE) 72 80, Lisa Holm Sorensen (DNK) 72 80, Lucie Andre (FRA) 75 77
153 – Nikki Garrett (AUS) 77 76, Lotta Wahlin (SWE) 73 80, Virginie Lagoutte-clement (FRA) 77 76
154 – Cecilie Lundgreen (NOR) 76 78, Miriam Nagl (DEU) 75 79
155 – Laurence Herman (BEL) 78 77, Charlotte Ellis (ENG) 76 79, Alexandra Vilatte (FRA) 78 77, Sofia Harkonen (FIN) 76 79, Yu Yang Zhang (CHN) 81 74
156 – Laurette Maritz (ZAF) 77 79, Barbara Genuini (FRA) 74 82, Anna Scott (ENG) 80 76, Lucy Williams (ENG) 78 78
157 – Mary Mattson (USA) 84 73
158 – Vikki Laing (SCO) 80 78
159 – Anastasia Kostina (RUS) 82 77, Mireia Prat (ESP) 82 77
160 – Sharmila Nicollet (IND) 80 80, Elin Emanuelsson (SWE) 82 78
161 – Sandra Eggermont (NLD) 85 76
162 – Kym Larratt (ENG) 85 77
164 – Adriana Zwanck (ESP) 83 81
165 – Tessa De Bruijn (NLD) 84 81
168 – Sara Djos (SWE) 82 86
RTD – Nicole Gergely (AUT)
