Chiara Tamburlini (-17) has made her debut in the Ladies European Tour very soon and in a big way. The 24-year-old Swiss golfer won the Joburg Open this Sunday, held at the Modderfontein Golf Club in Johannesburg. She achieved this in her rookie year, just on her seventh attempt and with a staggering seven-stroke difference.
It’s been just eight months since Tamburlini turned professional and she already has three victories, two in the LETAS and this one now in South Africa in the first division. She has rightfully earned everyone’s attention. We must keep an eye on her. There will be time to know if a star is born, but for now what she is doing deserves all the attention.
The performance of the Swiss golfer born in St. Gallen has been extraordinary. She went out to play the last round with a six-stroke lead and, beyond ending up winning by seven, she had a ten-stroke margin with only two holes left. A somewhat abrupt ending with a bogey and a double bogey, after sending the ball into the water on her shot to green, does not tarnish a superb performance.
She started with two birdies in the first two holes to make it clear that she was not going to make it easy for any of those coming from behind. Five more birdies up to hole 13, plus a bogey on the 3rd, ended up settling the matter. No discussion. Tamburlini and the abyss. In seven tournaments on the Ladies European Tour, all this year, she already has four top 10s and has moved up to second in the Order of Merit. Suddenly, qualifying for the Solheim Cup is no chimera.
Luna Sobrón (-9) finished in third position tied with Indian golfer Diksha Dagar (-9) and one stroke behind Aunchisa Utama (-10), a Thai player. The Spaniard played her cards well waiting for a mistake from Tamburlini that did not occur. From there, it was time to fight for the second place, something she did until the end. In fact, she had a birdie putt on the 18th to tie with Utama, but fell short by a finger.
Luna finished with a very good scorecard of 71 strokes, with four birdies, two of them on holes 15 and 16, and two bogeys. The third place in South Africa is her best result in three and a half years, specifically since she finished in second position in November 2020 at the Saudi Ladies International. The ear-to-ear smile at the end of the tournament, along with María Beautell as caddie, was more than justified.
Luna’s result should be a definitive boost to her confidence to finally leave behind many months in which her body has forced her to be more concerned with physical problems than her swing.
As for the rest of the Spanish players, Ana Peláez (-3) finished in the top 20 after handing in a par scorecard on the last day. The Malaga player remains the best of ours in the LET order of merit, fourteenth position, one ahead of Luna Sobrón, who moves up to fifteenth, four better than Carlota Ciganda and five above Marta Martín. Fátima Fernández Cano and Teresa Toscano complete the list of six Spanish players in the top 30 of the ranking.
Back in South Africa, Teresa Díez Moliner (PAR) finished in 29th place with a final round of 72 strokes, including two eagles, and further back finished Marta Martín (+4) and Paz Marfá (+6), with rounds of 76 and 74 strokes.
