Julia López (-14) will play her third consecutive Women’s Open. The golfer from Benahavís has earned one of the last available spots. The ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open offered three spots for the best players who made the cut and were not already exempt. Julia was the best among them, finishing third at Dundonald Links. Incidentally, it’s her first top-five finish in her LPGA career.
The Spaniard has entered the Open in grand style. This Sunday, she matched the best scorecard of the week and signed a spectacular round with 65 strokes. Particularly brilliant were the starts of both nines on the course. She began the day with three consecutive birdies, bringing her much closer to the Open goal, but Julia wanted more. Despite a bogey on the 4th hole, she didn’t stumble again for the rest of the day.
The Andalusian was going all out. She had a great opportunity to earn points in the Race to CME Globe. Despite her good debut as a rookie in the LPGA, Julia was 90th in the Order of Merit and had a great chance to earn many points in the Race of the year. With that in mind, she started the last nine holes of the tournament with four birdies in five flags. A sensational performance crowned with a three-metre birdie on the 18th. Tied for third to close the tournament and a good haul in the bag. This Monday, she will wake up in 54th place in the Race and among the top 60 playing in the season-ending grand finale. Not bad for her rookie season.
Additionally, Julia continues her climb in the world rankings. She started the year beyond the 560th position and last week after the Evian, she entered the top 200 in the world for the first time in her career. After her great third place in Scotland, she will be close to the top 150. We’ll see if she can break into the top 100 by the end of the season. Another goal for the insatiable Julia.
The Spaniard’s performance is impressively solid. At 22, she will play her sixth Major at Royal Porthcawl and her fourth in her rookie year in the LPGA. She doesn’t know what it’s like to miss a cut in a major event and hopes to extend her streak this week. This season, she already played in the featured group on Sunday at the US Open alongside Maja Stark. Julia is made for big occasions.
The other two spots for the Open have gone to South African Paula Reto (-10) and Chinese Mary Liu (-7). Nuria Iturrioz (+3), the other Spaniard still in contention in Scotland, finished 57th with a final round of 73 strokes.
