The Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España has started to speak Spanish at the very first moment, with an intensity that generates maximum expectations from the hand of two top players, Natalia Escuriola from Castellón and Carlota Ciganda from Navarre.
The two, ipso facto, have climbed to the top of the rankings based on tremendous efficiency, when barely a breath of a tournament that seems from the beginning tremendously exciting in a battle without quarter to which they have joined, of course, players of enormous quality who crave titles to beget glory -the case of the promising Georgia Hall- or those who insistently pursue them to continue feeding their legend, as in the case of Diana Luna and, above all, Suzann Pettersen, ready to explain why she is one of the best golfers in the world.
All of them -in addition to other players of proven stature, such as Lee-Anne Pace- have stepped forward to distinguish themselves as dominating the situation, with Natalia Escuriola, Georgia Hall and Diana Luna at the top of the leaderboard, with 7 under par, closely followed by Carlota Ciganda, Suzann Pettersen and Lee-Anne Pace, all of them with -6.
The defending champion and honorary member of the Real Club de Golf Gudadalmina, Azahara Muñoz, faces today her second day with -3 and remains close to the lead, tied with the player also trained at the host club, Noemí Jiménez.
Much of the history of the first day was forged early in the morning, when at 08:30 and 08:42 started their round those who were to monopolize the limelight through brilliantly parallel performances. From the 10th tee Carlota Ciganda, from the 1st tee Natalia Escuriola, both began to score birdies on their respective cards at breakneck speed, an insistence on success that led the two to beat the field in eight of their holes.
Carlota Ciganda, yes, stumbled twice, a pair of bogeys that humanized a glorious performance, while Natalia Escuriola, even finer if possible, turned the 11th hole, the only point of the course where she made bogey, into a mere anecdote in a fabled performance.
Their excellent parallelism extended even after delivering their victorious cards, before the media, when they spoke of feeling comfortable, at ease, in a field of undoubted fierceness that the two nevertheless tamed with circus-like skill.
Both had time to savor their privileged position for many hours, just before England’s Georgia Hall, after a discreet first round, registered 7 under par on her card in the last 9 holes, with a special mention for a birdie-eagle finish that explains why this young Solheim player is one of the most promising of the moment.
Her excellent result was matched late in the afternoon by the Italian Diana Luna, author of an immaculate card, 7 birdies with no faults, a clear message of her brilliant form.
As if that were not enough, the intense battle was joined, as expected, by Suzann Pettersen, with 2 Majors and 15 tournaments in the LPGA on her business card, and South African Lee-Anne Pace, who already won the Women’s Spanish Open in 2013, all of them first great references of the tournament to which Azahara Muñoz, local hero, who with 69 strokes remains in a disturbing stalking.
FIRST DAY CLASSIFICATION
1.- Natalia Escuriola (Spain), 65
+Georgia Hall (England), 65
+Diana Luna (Italy), 65
4.- Carlota Ciganda (Spain), 66
+Suzanne Pettersen (Norway), 66
+Lee-Anne Pace (South Africa), 66
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