Solheim Cup heroine Georgia Hall is hungry for a victory. The 21-year-old English golfer is gunning for the trophy in this week’s Andalucia Costa del Sol Open de España Femenino, which starts tomorrow at Real Club de Golf Guadalmina in San Pedro, near Marbella.
“I would love to win it,” said Georgia, who tied for 10th place in the Evian Championship on Sunday, moving up seven places to 41st in the world rankings.
“I played a practice round yesterday with Suzann Pettersen and the golf course is very nice. It’s a lot different to last week, with fewer slopes, but the weather is a lot better. It’s not as tight as Evian and you do have a little bit of room out there, but the greens are quite small as well, so approach shots are very important – and you have to putt well on this golf course.”
Georgia’s best finish on the Ladies European Tour was second in last year’s Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Open at Saadiyat Beach Golf Club in Abu Dhabi, but she has stepped up a level in this, her fifth year on Tour, with five top-10 finishes from six appearances. She tied for third at the World Ladies Championship, tied for fourth in the Lalla Meryem Cup, tied for 34th in the Estrella Damm Mediterranean Ladies Open, tied for ninth in the Aberdeen Asset Management Ladies Scottish Open and tied for third at the Ricoh Women’s British Open, on top of her tied 10th place finish in The Evian. She also earned two points for Europe on her debut Solheim Cup appearance in Iowa last month.
“My goals at the start of this year were to get in The European Solheim Cup team and to be in the top 50 in the world – and I’m 41st now – and to get my first win,” she continued.
She is No.3 on the LET Order of Merit with earnings of €302,816.39 from six tournaments played this season. The Evian Championship winner Anna Nordqvist is first with €555,556.33 and the Ricoh Women’s British Open champion, In-Kyung Kim, is second with €519,539.95 after three events played, but they need to play in a minimum of five LET Ranking events to remain on the Order of Merit following the final event, the Omega Dubai Ladies Masters, ending on December 9.
“That was my other goal: to win the Order of Merit and I think I’m in a good position,” Hall said. “The two players above me need to play in five events so if they don’t play I will pushed up into first, so hopefully I’ll have a good finish to the year. It’s a nice run now.”
After competing in Spain, Hall intends to play in the Lacoste Ladies Open de France, the second stage of LPGA Q-School, the Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Open, the Final Stage of LPGA Q-School and then the season-ending Omega Dubai Ladies Masters, which is her favourite event of the year.
