Nuria Iturrioz made a giant leap in the Ladies European Tour rankings after her victory at the Aramco Houston Championship two weeks ago. The Balearic golfer moved into twelfth position, within reach of the top 10. The cut with the top ten is not a trivial matter, as they earn the right to play directly in the Final of the LPGA Tour School without going through the first or second stage. Hopefully, one day the relationship between the American and European circuits will go a step further and they will start directly awarding cards to the best of the LET. For now, it is only the qualification for the Final of the School, which is not insignificant.
In other words, with her great triumph in the United States, the golfer from Son Servera has put this possibility within reach. Now, it remained to be seen whether she plans to play the Final of the School or if, on the contrary, she prefers to focus on the Ladies European Tour. The last regular LPGA Tour tournament she played, beyond obviously the Scottish Open, valid for both circuits, was the Shoprite LPGA Classic in October 2022. Three years ago. She finished in 29th place. Last year she didn’t even play the LPGA Tour School…
Well, the Balearic player has confirmed to Ten Golf that she will play the LPGA School again as long as she finishes among the top ten of the Ladies European Tour, that is, as long as she guarantees playing only the Final stage. What she will not do in any case is play the second stage. Either she gets into the top 10 or nothing. However, she will try with all her might. It is one of the goals from now until the end of the year. To this end, she has decided to take a two-week break to rest and recharge and will go all out in the last three tournaments of the year: Taiwan, China, and the Open de España at the Real Club Golf de Guadalhorce.
A good week at La Sella would also be very important to achieve this top 10 goal. Today she started with a par round, a result that is not bad at all considering the afternoon playing conditions. Obviously, the second shift was very disadvantaged. In fact, the results are evident. The reason was the wind. It blew a lot and was very gusty, difficult to read. Of the top 16 at La Sella Open, only three played in the afternoon shift. In this regard, a lot of credit must be given to Pia Babnik (-5). The Balkan player delivered a great round, especially considering she started with three consecutive birdies and then made three consecutive bogeys. She had enough grit to calm her nerves and make five more birdies from there to the end. The next best afternoon round was -2, held by Annabel Wilson and Alessandra Fanali. Playing under par in the afternoon was almost heroic. The lead, in fact, has not changed. Anna Huang (-8) sleeps as the leader, with a two-shot advantage over Nastasia Nadaud (-8) and Leonie Harm (-6). Luna Sobrón (-4) is fifth.
Nuria’s par round is very valuable, finishing with a great birdie on the 18th hole after making a magnificent recovery from the sand. Her bunker shot was a delight. Before that, she made very good pars on holes 15, 16, and 17. She knew how to suffer and leave aside the double bogey on the 13th.
The rest of the Spanish players in the afternoon played over par: Marta Martín (+1), Marta Sanz (+3), Ana Peláez (+3), Blanca Fernández (+3), and Amaia Latorre (+5). They will have to fight on Friday to make the cut, although it is not impossible. In fact, it is provisionally set at +1. We will have to see if the wind balances things out tomorrow.
