Nuria Iturrios’ is a story of overcoming. In September last year, just after turning professional, she suffered a pancreatitis and had to be admitted to the hospital and stay a month on such a strict diet that she lost all her strength, so much so that when she was finally able to step on a golf course she was not even able to swing the club.
It was, in her own words, the hardest thing that has happened in her life. But her tenacity and that of her coach made the 20-year-old Mallorcan player’s golfing talent return, and last May she won in Morocco her first tournament on the Women’s European Tour (LET), the Lalla Meryem Cup, after a final round of 65 strokes and six strokes ahead of the second-placed player.
-After finishing 22nd in your first LET event, was winning in your second foray on the Tour something unexpected or did you think you would succeed so soon?
-The truth is that I went to enjoy the tournament, without expectations, but, as I say, I went out the week, the planets aligned with me and super well.
-Is the LET going the way you expected it to go, easier, harder?
-The European Tour is the second most important circuit in the world; so, the truth is that I expected it with the level it has, and even more.
-What expectations have you set for yourself as a professional golfer?
-I hope to play the American Tour (LPGA Tour) as soon as possible, and I’ve always said I want to be the best in the world, but we’ll see.
-You have a lot of tough competition….
-Little by little, if you train day by day and so on, I think you can do great things.
-How do you approach the access to the American Circuit, going through the Qualifying School?
-Well, there are several ways. I hope to play a tournament, play it well and go in little by little. I’ve played three tournaments this year (on the LET) and then I have to see how this season goes, play the full Tour card and see how it goes next year.
-What is your training routine like and how many competitions do you have scheduled for this season?
-This month we have been in an uproar because we have had four weeks in a row competing and I have not even been able to go home, but my routine is to get up in the morning, go to train and spend between eight and ten hours at the golf course, and then two hours in the gym. As for competitions, there are many weeks and it is true that for me it is easier to plan the season having won a Tour tournament and thus having an exemption for the whole year and for all the tournaments.
Leave a Reply