“I BELIEVE I CAN BE AMONG THE BEST IN THE WORLD.”
If Carlota Ciganda had to choose three things to take with her to a desert island, they would be an iPad, water and chocolate. For the moment, the hypothesis of emulating Robinson Crusoe is not on her mind and she is focusing her energies on the American Tour, the LPGA Tour. The 24-year-old Navarre native, who made her first splash as a professional by winning the Order of Merit in her first season on the European Women’s Tour (LET) in 2012, has been on the verge of triumphing in the last LPGA Tour tournament. In the end she lost on the fourth playoff hole to the amazing Lydia Ko, third in the world ranking at only 17 years old.
Right after that second place, Carlota crossed the Atlantic pond to participate in Mallorca in the Olazábal & Nadal Invitational by Pula Golf, a charity tournament promoted by the two-time winner of the Augusta Masters and the famous Mallorcan tennis player.
-You are a sincere and direct person, a lover of simplicity, family, friends and with realistic and determined goals. That is the Carlota Ciganda that is reflected in life, is this description accurate, and can it also be applied to the professional golf Carlota Ciganda?
-I don’t need a lot of things to be well. I like simplicity, ease and tranquility. I am very familiar, a friend of my friends. I like to have a good time on the golf course and outside as well, do a lot of sports and enjoy myself.
-What has changed for you since 2011, when you turned pro? How has competing in the U.S. shaped you?
-When you decide to dedicate yourself to this, you set yourself some goals. I like to be serious, have a routine, train in the mornings, play golf, do a bit of physical training, and on the weekends be more relaxed. I have a plan and I stick to it.
-As for the United States, I got to know the circuit, some very good people at the university, how people live there, etc. The experience has made me more independent, I have been alone for a long time, although now I come home and I am delighted.
-Since you were 5 years old with a golf club, successful as an amateur, great hope as a professional, how do you see yourself in a few years?
-I prefer to go little by little, working day by day. This is a process, I have to learn and I believe I can be among the best in the world.
-Your parents, Rogelio? Any more fundamental names in your professional life?
-Rogelio is the person who taught me everything. My parents have also taken me very well, they have given me everything I needed. Other names… I have always liked Sergio García, Olazábal and Nadal. I look at how they compete, how they play?
-Are you aware that you represent the best generation of women’s golf in the history of Spain?
-I’m in a very good group with Azahara, Belén, Beatriz, María Hernández. I think we were doing well as amateurs and we are doing well now. We compete hoping to win more titles for Spain.
-You have always said that the main key to your love for golf and the decision to become a professional is that you enjoy it, how do you prioritize this feeling in the face of the pressure of being considered almost a prodigious player, with no limit and with great possibilities?
-In the end you realize that it’s all about sport. You have to try to win, without forgetting that, whether you win or lose, life goes on, nothing happens, no one has died. I play and enjoy with a preparation plan to try to do my best and be at the top, and if things don’t work out, you have to keep going until you get it and not give up.
-What can be done so that women and women’s golf get the place they deserve, and do you think there is still a long way to go?
-Little by little, women’s golf is being given more prominence, we have five players in the LPGA. In fact, what really moves this is that there are women in the big circuits, in the world elite. If we win tournaments and it is reflected on television, in the media, little by little it will go up. However, it is difficult to compete with soccer, with tennis ….. In the United States they give a lot of gofl on television and in Spain it is almost not seen: in this it is complicated.
-You admire Rafa Nadal, as you have said on several occasions, for the way he competes and also for his humility. What is it like to play alongside him for a cause of solidarity?
-Meeting him and playing with him has been an incredible experience, he’s very nice and I’ve been very comfortable with him. At the end, you think he’s going to be different, that he’s going to have something that you don’t have… and you realize that it’s very normal.
-What concerns led you to start studying sociology?
-In Arizona I started studying business, then psychology and sociology, but what I liked was sports and my priority was golf.
-If you were not a professional golfer, what would you have liked to be, what are your aspirations in other fields and your personal projects.
-As I say, I like sports, everything related to it, what surrounds it, the athletes who have suffered and who have the capacity to go far. I don’t see myself in an office. My life is all about sport.
-You are a fan of Osasuna and Athletic, after golf, soccer?
-Soccer dominates in my family. My uncle played for Athletic and I remember going to see him together. At home we talk about soccer, golf and tennis and we follow Rafa Nadal a lot.
-Would you exchange Ulzama (his hometown) for…
-No reason. It’s my home, where I’ve always lived, where my roots are, my family and my people… I love it.
-Calendar 2015: Will you participate in Spain and support women’s professional golf here?
-I would like to play the Spanish Open and, as long as it doesn’t coincide with a good tournament in the United States, I will do my best to be here.
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