Carlota Ciganda closed last year with an extraordinary victory at the Andalusian Costa del Sol Open in Spain and began it at the end of January, on the other side of the Atlantic, with a magnificent 20th place at the Gainbridge LPGA in Boca Rio. The following week he made the cut at the LPGA Drive On Championship, although he was unable to shine the weekend.
Now the Navarrese is in Singapore, where she faces the HSBC Women’s World Championshipa tournament of the highest level attended by the number 1 in the world, Jin Young Ko; defending champion, Hyo Joo Kim; or the numbers 3, 6 and 11 of the ranking, Lydia Ko, Inbee Park y Brooke Henderson respectively. The best Spanish result in this event was that of Azahara Muoz in 2008, which fell on the playoff.
This tournament that is played in the field ‘The Tanjong’ belonging to the Sentosa Golf Club (Twice decorated as the best ecological golf facility in the world), it is designated as the ‘greatest Asian’. The data was given precisely by the double Olympic medalist Lydia Ko: “I think the list of previous winners shows exactly why people refer to this tournament as the ‘major in Asia’. 11 of the last 13 previous champions have won a ‘big’.
It is an event that, of course, not even the European captain of the Solheim Cup can miss -Suzann Pettersen- nor the american -Stacy Lewis-, since 21 players who have played in the Solheim Cup (51 appearances in total) will meet there, but above all for all those who aspire to do so next year. Another noteworthy fact is that 20 ‘major’ winners will gather in Singapore.
Carlota, meanwhile, will come into play in the first group of the morning and, looking at the Solheim Cup 2023 by Finca Cortesnit will not be convenient to take your eyes off other top-level Europeans such as Leona Maguire, Celine Boutier, Matilda Castren, Nanna Koerstz Madsen, Emily Pedersen or Madelene Sagstrom.
It could be said that this World Cup in Singapore is the first great moment of the season, where the best begin to meet and measure their strength. The 2022 calendar on the LPGA, in any case, is already very close to its first real ‘major’, the Chevron Championship (March 31 to April 3). For the US Open we will have to wait until June, the month in which we will also see the PGA Championship. The Evian is in the second half of July, and two weeks later the British Open.