Everything began in August 2023, after a notable, not outstanding but certainly notable, amateur career. The Swiss golfer Chiara Tamburlini decided to turn professional. In her suitcase were a thousand and one trophies won in Switzerland and the NCAA team title with the University of Mississippi as her main credentials. She wasn’t World Number One, didn’t win the British Amateur, didn’t compete in any Major as an amateur, nor did she reach a major final in those years, nor did she win any European or World titles. In short, she wasn’t Albane Valenzuela, a Swiss compatriot just two years older than her (26 and 24), who did all, or almost all of that, and has already debuted in the Solheim Cup. Tamburlini wasn’t one of those names that buzzed around expert discussions with cries of: “watch out for what’s coming.”
However, her impact has been enormous. She has exceeded any expectations, starting, of course, with her own. Tamburlini won the first tournament she played as a professional, specifically the PGA Championship Gothenburg of the LET Access Series. She did so with a five-shot lead. Just three weeks later, she claimed her second victory in this same circuit, the second division of European women’s golf. She captured the Rose Ladies Open and soared up the rankings, to the point that in just a couple of events, she secured promotion to the Ladies European Tour through the order of merit.
Now, indeed, people began to wonder who this Chiara Tamburlini was and why she played golf so well, with such immediate good results. In any case, what she did, while outstanding, wasn’t entirely unique. She wasn’t the first golfer to earn the LET card in just a few tournaments in LETAS. However, she was on the radar. Let’s see what she’s capable of doing now…
Her first year on the Ladies European Tour has been remarkable. She has won three championships (South Africa, France, and Taiwan), achieved seven more top 10 finishes, claimed the Rookie of the Year trophy two tournaments before the season ended, and won the LET order of merit with one event still left on the calendar. She achieved this last feat on Saturday, after the Aramco Team Series in Saudi Arabia where she finished in seventh place. Simply put, Tamburlini has been unstoppable. Fourteen months of pure thrill and success.
The Swiss golfer has a 822.23-point lead over the second-placed player, which means that mathematically, no one can catch her in the Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España, a tournament that will be held at the end of November at the Real Guadalhorce Club de Golf. She is the seventh golfer to win both the Rookie of the Year award and the LET order of merit in the same season. She joins a club that includes Laura Davies, Carlota Ciganda, Esther Henseleit, Jeeno Thitikul, Linn Grant, and Trichat Cheenglab.
In this regard, there is an interesting point to consider. In the first 27 years of LET history, only two golfers managed to win both the rookie and the overall ranking in the same year. In the last six years, five players have achieved this. It’s clear that young players are increasingly well-prepared, although it could also be thought that there is a certain complacency among the regulars on the circuit, as if it were harder to progress from within than coming from outside. There’s a debate.
By the way, speaking of the LET ranking, there are four Spanish players, María Hernández, Luna Sobrón, Marta Martín, and Ana Peláez, who will arrive at the last tournament of the year in Málaga with a chance to finish in the top ten and, therefore, qualify for the LPGA Tour Q-School Final. Among them, María is the only one who will arrive in Andalucía within the top 10, while Marta is 16th, Luna is 20th, and Ana is 28th.
