LET - Ciganda Captures Maiden Title

(4 June 2012 – Rotterdam, Holland)

Spain&aposs Carlota Ciganda held on to her overnight lead to claim her maiden win on the Ladies European Tour at the Deloitte Ladies Open in Rotterdam. After rounds of 71, 67 and 69 she finished two shots ahead of Finland’s Ursula Wikstrom with South Africa’s Lee-Anne Pace a further three shots back in outright third.

Ciganda, a 22-year-old rookie from Pamplona began the final day with a one stroke lead over Wikstrom. Her final round of three under at Golfclub Broekpolder came in cold and breezy conditions. The final round only started after a long weather delay due to heavy rainfall overnight and through the morning. However, Ciganda made her intentions clear with a birdie on the first hole, making a long putt to go two shots ahead.

Wikstrom came back by sinking a short birdie putt at the par-three fourth hole and both Ciganda and Wikstrom then holed birdie putts at the fifth.

Wikstrom nailed a 35-footer uphill on the seventh green to tie for the lead, but Ciganda holed another long putt at the 9th to go one clear at the turn with a three under outward total of 33.

Ciganda went two clear after Wikstrom dropped a shot at the 10th, but the gap was back to one after the Spaniard three-putted the par-four 11th for her first bogey of the day. Both players made pars up until the 16th when Wikstrom bogeyed the par-three after failing to get up and down from a bunker, giving Ciganda a two stroke lead with two holes to play.

Both players missed birdie chances on 17. On 18, the heavens opened just after Ciganda hit her second shot to the green. Wikstrom made an excellent up and down from a bunker for birdie before Ciganda rolled in her second putt for birdie to seal the win.

This was her first victory on the LET but her third title as a professional, after she won the Spanish professional championship earlier this season as well as the Murcia Ladies Open on the LET Access Series last year in Spain.

“I am very happy. It’s a very good feeling and I am very happy because I played very good golf. I was feeling calm and I was fine,” Ciganda said. “Like yesterday, I started with a birdie on the first hole and made another one on my fifth and then ninth, so I was three under. Then my bogey was on hole-number 11. I was hitting lots of fairways, lots of greens. I was keeping in the present and playing great golf."

“It’s very big because it’s my first win on the Ladies European Tour so I’m very happy and hopefully I can win more.”

The best of the ALPG contingent saw a very welcome return to form for Alison Whitaker. A solid tournament finishing at even par produced her best finish in quite a while tied for 11th. At one-over and in a tie for 21st was Stacey Keating, while Rebecca Artis (T24), Rachel Bailey, Frances Bondad, Rebecca Codd (all T30), Karen Lunn, Lynnette Brooky (T46) and Mianne Bagger (68th) all made the cut.