On a birdie-filled Friday at the Aramco Team Series – Riyadh Fatima Fernandez Cano had a day to remember carding a sensational 62 (-10) to soar into contention.
Six back before the start of play, the Spanish star lit things at Riyadh Golf Club carding 10 birdies and not dropping a single shot as she jumped into a tie for third on 11-under par with 18 holes remaining.
“I was hitting the ball really close,” Fernandez Cano said. “Yesterday I did the same thing I just couldn’t really putt. And today that changed! I started off quite slow, the first few holes I didn’t make a birdie. But I was hitting it close so I felt like they would go in eventually. And they definitely did.”
Fernandez Cano started with three pars in Saudi Arabia before posting four birdies in a row on the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th. Two pars saw the 29-year-old go out in 32 before Fernandez Cano produced an insane back-nine carding six more birdies at the 10th, 11th, 12th, 14th, 16th and 17th – the latter coming after she stiffed her tee shot at the par-3.
Moving to -10, Fernandez Cano needed a birdie on the closing par-4 to match the 18 hole scoring record on the Ladies European Tour (LET) – one equalled at this event last year by USA’s Alison Lee – but her lengthy birdie effort just missed the hole left.
The scorecard is Fernandez Cano’s best ever result on the LET and the Tour’s best score of 2024. She did shoot a 61 (-11) en route to winning the Carlisle Arizona Women’s Golf Classic on the Epson Tour in 2022.
It also comes a year on from Fernandez Cano’s injury plagued 2023 where she was required to have arm surgery before returning to the LET Q-School to reclaim full playing rights.
She said: “In the end it was just two nerves which had been trapped in my right arm. The only problem was it took forever to figure out what was wrong with it because it would only happen when the muscle would contract and it was activated.
“I almost stepped away from the game last year. I was ready to quit. I went to see one last doctor, thankfully he knew what to do and now we’re here! It’s definitely been a rollercoaster of a last few years.”
Fernandez Cano now trails Slovenia’s Pia Babnik by three shots heading into the third and final round at Riyadh Golf Club. She is chasing a second victory of 2024 after winning the Guradian Championship on the Epson Tour in September – a result which helped the Spaniard secure her LPGA card for 2025 through the feeder circuit.
“I’ve been playing really solid this year,” she said. “Especially at the end of the year since the summer. I’m hitting the ball really well. As long as I can keep the driver in play and keep giving myself chances, the putter behaves, I have a chance tomorrow.”
The 29-year-old will tee up on Saturday alongside Babnik and England’s Charley Hull at 10:50am local time. Follow the tournament @LETgolf on Instagram and X and Ladies European Tour on Facebook and YouTube – #RaiseOurGame | #SEETheImpact.
