Former champions Azahara Muñoz and Carlota Ciganda are excited for the week ahead at the LET’s season finale.
The Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España is a special tournament for both players with Muñoz having won the title in 2016 and 2017, while Ciganda won the tournament in 2021.
Real Club de Golf Las Brisas is the venue for 2023 and it is somewhere five-time LET winner Muñoz knows well.
“I have played a couple of tournaments here and I have really good memories,” she said. “I played the Spanish Amateur here in 2002.
“Then another tournament which is the state one in maybe 2004, but ever since then I have only played once. I haven’t played since the renovation. I have played it a couple of times this week now.
“I think the second shots are going to be key around here. The greens are small, and up-and-downs on the greens are pretty challenging. To be on the green and on the right side is important, it can get pretty slippery above the holes, so I think obviously been in the fairways but hitting second shots on a lot of greens is going to be key.”
Muñoz competed at this tournament in 2022 just a few months after returning to professional golf following the birth of her son Lucas and she finished in a tie for 19th place.
Having secured her full LPGA Tour card for next year a couple of weeks ago in Florida, where she finished in a tie for second place, the 36-year-old comes to this week in a confident mood.
She explained: “It’s been pretty crazy, obviously travelling nowadays is much more difficult but at the same time it’s pretty rewarding. It’s amazing to be able to do this with Lucas on the road. I’m very tired most days but when I come home, he’s there and it makes everything better.
“I had been playing much better since the summer, but I couldn’t quite put all four rounds together. The last couple of tournaments that I played I was pretty much top five going into the weekend but then I had tough Saturdays.
“I think I learnt a bit about those two Saturdays in Dallas and in China. That helped me a lot for Florida, I had a really nice round on Saturday and finished strongly on Sunday. Playing really well when I had to, I was 100th on the list so had to play to keep my card, that was pretty special, and it taught me that I can play well under pressure and obviously, I’m in good form so I’m ready for the week and excited to play at home.”
Ciganda returns to the tournament, having won her seventh LET title earlier in the season in Florida and having been part of the European Team that retained the trophy for an historic three in-a-row.
The seven-time LET winner is enjoying being back in the region and having finished in a tie for 10th at last week’s CME Group Tour Championship after rounds of 71-70-63-67, the Spaniard is hoping to end the year on a high.
Ciganda said: “It feels really nice, I love being in this part of Spain. I’m from the north but the south is just beautiful, great weather. I think the course is one of the best that we have played in the past few years. It’s in really good shape.
“It feels good. Playing Solheim a few weeks ago and being here in Spain with my family, I’m excited for the week and hopefully, I can be there on Sunday to win or be up there on the leaderboard.
“It was really nice to finish good last week in Florida at the CME Group Tour Championship. I had a great weekend, I made a lot of good putts and played very solid. It’s always nice to finish on a high and hopefully I can do the same this week.”
The first round gets underway at 10 am (local time) on Thursday with Ciganda teeing it from the first at 10.44 am, while Muñoz will start her tournament at 11.28 am.
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