Fátima Fernández Cano had a blast on Saturday at the Lalla Meryem Cup. She was like a child with new shoes on the Blue course of the Royal Golf Dar es Salam. Almost two years later, she was back fighting for victory in the last 18 holes of a tournament. She went all out, without looking back, and it didn’t work out. But she regrets nothing. She’s still a bit rusty here and there, but her ambition and hunger remain intact.
Fátima finished third in Morocco in the third tournament of the Ladies European Tour season. She has moved up to tenth in the European circuit’s order of merit and has climbed more than seven hundred places in the world ranking to get back into the top 500, just where she was before stopping due to an arm injury. Watch out, she has only needed two tournaments to get back to where she was ten months ago.
Fátima is back, we’ve already said that. And she confirms it. Her irons, after a week of intense work in Fuerteventura, are back to what they were, cloth hunters. She is happy with the game and the result, but warns that her best weapon still needs polishing. “I found it hard to hit well from the tee this week, especially on the first day. On Thursday afternoon I went to the practice range and felt more comfortable. Friday and Saturday were better, but almost with a drive that we could call an emergency, to fade, almost to place, without much distance. I’m still not hitting the driver as I hit it,” she assures Ten Golf.
The driver has always been the best club of the 28-year-old Galician golfer. It goes very long and very straight. That’s what needs to be adjusted in the next few days before jumping to the United States to start the American season. First she will play next week the Aramco Team Series in Florida, in Tampa, a tournament of the Ladies European Tour for which she had received an invitation (she would have qualified for her third place in Morocco) and then she will play two tournaments of the Epson Tour (LPGA satellite circuit), in Longwood and Jacksonville. From there, almost a month off and then, two options: if she gets into the Aramco in Korea she will travel to Asia and if she stays out she will play a couple of tournaments of the Epson. Intense schedule with the main goal of regaining the LPGA Tour card, either through the European route or through the American second division.
Of everything that happened in Morocco, Fátima is left with the attitude. “I liked it because I played brave and to the flag in the last holes. I wanted to push to give myself an option. On the 17th and 18th two bogeys fell because I went for the birdie. The 17th is a difficult hole because it’s a hybrid par 3 and on the 18th I decided to hit drive to have a short club and be able to attack, but it was unplayable in the bunker. It didn’t work out, but I don’t regret it. I’m hitting very well, I had a great time being up there again and it’s time to keep improving and playing, I’ve been a long time without competing,” she assures.
By the way, in the Aramco of Tampa will also be Teresa Toscano, who qualified after the top 10 achieved in Rabat.
