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The Spanish golfer asks for the public’s support to win a duel that appears “very close”
- “The food, the hotel, the people, hearing Spanish spoken everywhere ,… I love it. “It would be incredible to win here with my people around me, it would be a dream.”
- “ Suzann Pettersen is clear about Friday’s pairings, and he has told us, but that information cannot come from the ‘ team room ‘. A clue: ‘I think I’m going to play with a Swedish girl.’
Full of energy, with sky-high energy and a wide smile on her face. This is how Carlota Ciganda presented herself at the Finca Cortesín Media Center to leave her first impressions before the Solheim Cup 2023, the first in history on Spanish soil. He is in high spirits, but without showing his chest; smiling, but alert for the quality of the American team; and above all, confident of having excessive support from the Spanish and European public: “I want to see the stands on hole 1 full, roaring, making a lot of noise.”
And the two hundred fans who have followed her practice round have made noise, but she wants more, what is necessary to beat an American team that, despite coming with five debutants, “is very similar to the European team. The two sets have a high level, they are quite similar. They are players who make few mistakes. Of their five debutants, two have won Grands, and if you win Grands you are prepared to play a Solheim. The ‘ rookies ‘ of now are not like those of ten years ago, that is why they win so quickly. They are newcomers, but it is clear that they have worked with the best technicians and technology,” he explains.
His feelings for Friday are good, very good. He is in the competition he likes the most and in the place where he wanted to be. “I am very happy to be here. It is wonderful to play in our country. The food, the hotel, the people, hearing Spanish spoken everywhere ,… I love it. It would be incredible to win here with my people and my family surrounding me, it would be a dream,” he said before a hundred media outlets at the Media Center.
Taking advantage of this first appearance before the media, Carlota wanted to thank Deporte & Business, Marta Figueras- Dotti , President of the Ladies European Tour, and the rest of the actors involved in the organization of the tournament, for the work that a Solheim carries out. “Until you get here you don’t realize everything that goes into setting up all these tents, serving everyone ,… ”
“I know who I’m going to play with, but that information doesn’t come from the team. ” “room ”
The Navarrese golfer, who has stood in the press room perfectly equipped with the colors of her team – turquoise blue polo shirt, and pants and white cap with the Solheim Cup logo – has revealed that captain Suzann Pettersen “is very clear” about Friday’s pairings, but he did not want to make them public.
“He has asked us how many games we want to play and who we want to play with. What he wants is for us to be comfortable. The captain is clear about it, and she has told us, but she cannot leave the ‘ team room ,’” he said. Of course, he leaves a clue: “I think I’m going to play with a Swedish woman.”
This will be Carlota Ciganda’s sixth Solheim Cup, which makes her the most experienced European player apart from Anna Nordqvist , who has one more edition. He remembers that “in 2013 I had been in the Tour for a couple of years, and I was a ‘ rookie ‘, I had that desire and that energy that never ends. He did what he had to do. Now I have more experience; As a golfer I have learned, you learn every week. Improvement is never enough. I think the difference is that I have more experience and I go calmer on the field, I control my emotions more,” he says, and adds a circumstance that may be important during the competition: “these are weeks of emotions, and that can help if you play against a debutant.”
Likewise, Ulzama has emphasized the need for the European team to contain the euphoria, since, although it is “the strongest team that Europe has ever had”, this must be demonstrated on the field. “The team is very good, so the ranking says, but to win each one has to do their own thing. We are all focused and know what we have to do to get to Friday well. We are looking forward to it, but we know that the Americans are very good, we know them very well from the LPGA. Everything is going to be very close, many matches will reach the last holes at par,” he says.
Of course, Carlota does not deny that the fact that the greens at Finca Cortesín are “somewhat slower than those played in the United States” can benefit the local team. “In any case, the field is good for both teams,” he concluded.
“I hope the girls from the Ping Junior Solheim Cup pass on their energy to us”
The Navarrese golfer, always a follower of the results of the National Teams, as she shows on her social networks, has been satisfied with the European triumph in the Ping Junior Solheim Cup, a title that can boost Europe in Finca Cortesín . “I followed the tournament because there were four Spaniards. I have seen that they have won easily, I am very happy, and I hope that the girls pass their energy on to the older ones,” she said.
Carlota Ciganda wanted to close her press appearance with the cry that she hopes to hear in every corner of Finca Cortesín starting this Friday: “Come on, girls !”
More information on the website www.solheimcup2023.eu, on the Twitter account @SolheimCup2023, on the Instagram account @solheimcup2023esp and on the Facebook page Solheim Cup 2023.
