Nuria Iturrioz (-6) has made a giant leap on the second day of La Sella Open. The Balearic player delivered a card of 66 strokes, with seven birdies and a solitary bogey, and has placed herself at the top of the leaderboard pending the completion of the afternoon session.
Nuria continues to progress. She won the Aramco Houston Championship two weeks ago, was at the top all the time in Switzerland seven days ago, and now she is once again presenting her candidacy for victory in Alicante. She is playing well, her confidence is very high, and she is not willing to stop just now. Moreover, her goal is to make another leap in the Ladies European Tour ranking. The top 10 is within reach, and she wants to finish the job. Her plan is to rest in France and India for the next two weeks and come back in full force for the last three tournaments of the year. Everything she does at La Sella will leave her with less work for the end of the season.
There is a statistic in which Nuria is currently the best in the world, which clearly explains how well she is playing and her good results. And it’s not just because of today’s round at La Sella, but in the aggregate of the last three tournaments. The sample, therefore, is significant. It concerns greens in regulation. The player from Son Servera has hit 122 greens out of the last 144 she has played. That is, from the first round in Houston to the second at La Sella. This represents 84.72 percent. In fact, in five of those eight rounds that are counted, she has missed two or fewer greens. Her control with her irons is spectacular right now.
When we say she is the best in the world at the moment in greens in regulation, it is not an exaggeration. The best in the Ladies European Tour this season is Singaporean Shannon Tan with a percentage of 83.23 percent. If we look at the LPGA Tour, the best is Japanese Rio Takeda with 76.37 percent. It is true that the sample for Tan or Takeda is larger than Nuria’s, as it covers the entire season, which is why we say she is the best in the world in this area right now.
Today was another example. She only missed one green all day, the 13th hole, and made a bogey. The rest of the day she was putting for birdie with mostly quite reasonable opportunities. She could have made a few strokes less, although one shouldn’t be too picky with a card of 66 strokes.
Nuria already signed a great par card this Thursday afternoon in the midst of a gale. With very bad conditions, she only missed five greens. She knew it was a good round, but she couldn’t avoid the frustration of not being able to squeeze a bit more out of her round. She knows she is playing well and wants to make the most of it.
Let’s not forget that Nuria won at La Sella in the first edition two years ago, so she already knows what it means to be at the top in this setting. It’s a course she likes, it suits her eye, and she wishes to add her second victory here on Sunday. We will see what happens in the last 36 holes, but it will not be easy to move the Mallorcan from that position. The most challenging could be Sunday, as a change in the weather is expected, and storms could come.
Iturrioz is tied at the top with Australian Kirsten Rudgeley (-6) and has a one-stroke advantage over Alessandra Fanali, Pia Babnik, and Maddison Hinson-Tolchard.
Additionally, regarding the Spanish players, Blanca Fernández (PAR) has made the cut, as has Marta Martín (+1). Amaia Latorre (+3) has to wait and hope for strong winds in the afternoon so that the cut moves from +2, where it is right now, to +3.
