Spain’s Carlota Ciganda wants to finish the 2021 Ladies European Tour (LET) season with a win at the Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España.
In what is the 25th event of the year, the LET season finale sees 72 players descend on Los Naranjos Golf Club and compete for a prize fund of €600,000.
Four-time LET winner Ciganda has an impressive record when playing in her homeland with her last LET win coming at the 2019 Estrella Damm Mediterranean Ladies Open.
While in the Open de España, which is Spain’s national championship, Ciganda hasn’t finished outside the top ten on the last eight occasions she has played the tournament.
“I’m very happy to be here. I love playing in Spain and at the Spanish Open, I have a lot of family and friends here. I want to try and win here this week, hopefully I will do that on Sunday,” said Ciganda.
The Solheim Cup star will tee it up in the first round at 11.58am (local time) alongside winning European Solheim Cup captain Catriona Matthew and fellow Spaniard Fatima Fernandez Cano.
Ciganda hasn’t played at Los Naranjos Golf Club before but is looking forward to the challenge of a new venue.
She continued: “It is my first time at Los Naranjos. I played nine holes yesterday and 18 holes today. It is quite a tricky course; they are quite small greens so you have to hit good shots into the green and then the greens can be tricky if you have downhill putts.”
2021 Race to Costa del Sol champion Atthaya Thitikul will be crowned and presented with the prestigious trophy following the conclusion of this week’s tournament.
And the 18-year-old, who has two LET victories this year, is enjoying her first time playing in the Costa del Sol region.
“It is my first time in Spain. The food is amazing here, the city is nice, and I enjoy the beach being close, plus we’re in the mountains too. It is a pleasure being able to play here and experience Spain,” said Thitikul, who is number 22 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings.
“I have had my coach here in Spain and it’s been nice to have him around. This week I’m not trying to be too serious, I’m trying to keep relaxed and enjoy the week with LPGA Q Series coming up. I’m trying to boost my confidence with my game and play my best.”
Thitikul will be playing alongside Slovenia’s Pia Babnik and Finland’s Sanna Nuutinen, who sit second and third in the Race to Costa del Sol standings.
Last time out, 17-year-old Babnik secured her second victory of the season winning by one stroke at the Aramco Team Series – Jeddah.
Sweden’s Maja Stark, who won the Estrella Damm Ladies Open Presented By Catalunya in Sitges back in October, will tee it up with England’s Alice Hewson and 2021 Investec SA Women’s Open champion Lee-Anne Pace.
No fewer than 14 Spanish players are in the field with Ciganda leading the way, and the all-Spanish group of Noemi Jimenez Martin, Laura Gomez Ruiz and Ana Pelaez have the honour of hitting the first tee shots in round one.
Follow all the action on @LETGolf on Instagram and Twitter and Ladies European Tour on Facebook – #RaiseOurGame #OpenDeEspana #RaceToCostaDelSol.
