Lalla Meryem Cup winner Nuria Iturrios from Spain will be back in action at the Tipsport Golf Masters at Golf Park Pilsen in the Czech Republic starting on Friday.
Following her maiden victory in Morocco a month ago, she has declared that the Rookie of the Year Award is her next target.
“It’s my main objective and I want the order of merit too, but we have a lot of tournaments still to play,” said the 20-year-old from Mallorca, who won on just her second start as a professional, having tied for 24th in New Zealand in February.
With earnings of 69,926 euros from two tournaments, she leads the rookie standings by 40,500 euros from second placed American Angel Yin from the USA, who was third in Morocco and also shared 24th in New Zealand.
At this early stage in the season, there is a tantalising prospect that Iturrios could follow fellow Spaniard Carlota Ciganda and Dame Laura Davies of England by winning the Order of Merit and Rookie of the Year Award in her first year as a professional.
However, Order of Merit leader Beth Allen from the United States is also in action this week. Iturrios could mathematically leapfrog Allen and Shanshan Feng with a third place finish or better, depending on Allen’s position.
Other rookies in the field include Yin, third placed Justine Dreher from France and fourth placed Aditi Ashok, who is well placed to qualify for the Olympic Games.
They are joined by Scotland’s Gemma Dryburgh, Germany’s Olivia Cowan, who qualified for the US Women’s Open, Spain’s Noemi Jimenez Martin and Mexican Ana Menendez, among others.
