Azahara Muñoz, winner in 2016 and 2017, which ended the lack of Spaniards in the glossy medal winners of the Open, now aspires to her third title. Noemí Jiménez, María Parra and Laura Cabanillas – along with Azahara Muñoz -, prestigious Andalusian references in the tournament. Beatriz Recari and Nuria Iturrios also lead a large group of Spaniards of enormous projection that endow the competition with enormous interest.
Seconds in 2002, 2003, 2009, 2011, 2014 and 2018, fifth in 2012, seventh in 2013 … and two spectacular consecutive wins, in 2016 and 2017, by the Malaga Azahara Muñoz. This has been the intense relationship of Spanish golfers with the Andalusian Costa del Sol Open of Female Spain, which this time brings together fourteen representatives of our country in pursuit of the title in play of this important tournament integrated into the Ladies European Tour.
The large group of Spaniards present in the Aloha Golf tour of Malaga – with special mention for Azahara Muñoz and for María Parra and the Malaga-born Noemí Jiménez and Laura Cabanillas, prestigious Andalusian references within the competition – requests the highest prominence in a tournament that seems exciting given also the high quality of its foreign participants, with the Dutch Anne Van Dam, world star of golf and defender of the title, in the first line.
Headed by Azahara Muñoz, whose natural habitat is the LPGA, the Spanish squad rises to fourteen golfers, some of whom have achieved brilliant results in various Professional Circuits throughout this year.
This is the case of the Balearic Nuria Iturrios, who arrives in Malaga with the brand new LPGA 2020 card recently won under his arm, the climax to a spectacular season that includes three wins in the Lalla Meryem Cup, the Omega Dubai Moonlight Classic and the Zimmer Biomet Champonship, this last tournament of the North American Symetra Tour.
With a trophy raised throughout 2019, María Parra also arrives – the best in the IOA Invitational – and Marta Sanz from Madrid, first classified in the IOA Golf Classic, both competitions of the Symetra Tour.
Spanish attention is also focused on Navarra Beatriz Recari, another of the great claims of the tournament, with a decade of experience in the LPGA, where she went after imposing herself in Europe at the Finnair Masters in 2009, a victory ratified by four more in the USA –CVS Pharmacy 2010, Kia Classic 2013, Marathon Classic 2013, International Crown 2014– and, above all, for the Solheim Cup that contributed to winning in 2013.
Apart from them, the list of Spanish players includes a large number of golfers who strengthen their steps in the professional field, case of Noemí Jiménez, Luna Sobrón, Carmen Alonso, Fátima Fernández, María Hernández, Harang Lee, Patricia Sanz and Elia Folch, always battling in any tournament worth its salt, as is the case of this Andalusia Costa del Sol Open of Spain Women.
AROUND THE OPEN
Beatriz Recari: “Having your people support you and all your love makes me really want to play”
“Aloha Golf seems to me a very strategic campaign, you have to position the ball very well because you can get blocked in the next stroke and the greens are incredibly wavy. A very interesting field ”(…)
“The Estrella Damm Mediterranean Ladies Open was my first tournament since the break and I left with very good feelings. Now I simply have to continue consolidating this dynamic before the start of the LPGA at the end of January ”(…)
“I feel very well, I come from a month and a half in Florida. Playing the Spanish Open is very special for me because I haven’t disputed it for 10 years. Having your people supporting you, having my father at my side and all the love makes me really want to play. ”
Luna Sobrón: “I’ve never played at Aloha and what better tournament than this one to do it”
“The truth is my first time here, I have never played in Aloha and what better tournament to do it. I want to play and I hope to do my best ”(…)
“It is a very moving field, greens have a great role and it is key to be in safe areas because you can get very complicated putts” (…)
“I keep doing the same thing as many years ago, they have been years of learning, I am happy and to continue. My next goal is to be on top of the American Tour, go step by step and see what happens ”