Ciganda: "I'm really motivated to play in USA"

09/12/2024 09:13 PM

The Solheim Cup last year at Finca Cortesín (Málaga) is still fresh in our minds, where Carlota Ciganda emerged in a masterful way to score the point that allowed the European team to retain the trophy and for the third consecutive edition beat the American team. This year it is being held again so that it does not coincide with the Ryder Cup next year.

The Navarrese player will once again be part of the European team. The Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville (Virginia) is the setting for this new edition of the Solheim Cup, in which the best American and European players will compete. Movistar Plus+ will offer, live and exclusively, a tournament that will bring together the most select of women's golf. Golf 2 on M+ (dial 68) will be the reference channel). Friday 13th and Saturday 14th from 1:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. Sunday 15th from 2:45 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. (always Spanish peninsular time).

The Solheim Cup is one of the most important events in women's golf. It is a biennial tournament, like the Ryder Cup, but despite having been held last year in Spain, it is being played again this 2024 so as not to coincide with the Ryder (COVID altered the years of the Ryder).

Europe will seek its fourth consecutive title. The Americans are under a lot of pressure, as they have not won since 2017 in Iowa. Last year it was held in our country, at Finca Cortesín, and it was a tournament with excitement until the end. In fact, the result was 14-14, but Europe won the tournament as it was the reigning champion.

This year the European team, captained again by Norwegian Suzann Pettersen, will seek to make history by achieving something that has never been achieved before, neither in Europe nor in the United States, and that is to win four times in a row.

On the European team there will again be a Spaniard, Navarrese Carlota Ciganda, who will play her seventh Solheim Cup, the player with the most participations in the history of Spain. Last year she became the heroine by getting four points for Europe and giving the winning point against world number one Nelly Korda.

"Everything is very positive, the team is eager, we had a great time in the 'team room', the course seems spectacular to me, to hit hard, in short, eager to start the Solheim," said Carlota in statements provided to MD by the event's communication service.

"This is a new week, I will never forget the week in Spain, but now we are in the USA, with the public against us, which motivates me a lot," adds the player from Ulzama (Pamplona).

"Europe has always been characterised by how well we get along within the team, how much we fight, all of us always to the death with the captain, I want Friday to come already," says Carlota.

"Getting along, having a good laugh, playing fun practice rounds, having a good vibe... All this improves the team's performance," says the Spaniard.

And to conclude, Ciganda says that "I would love to see Europe win on Sunday, make history with the fourth consecutive victory, something that has never been achieved. On paper, they have a better team according to the numbers, but this is match play and it's about making putts..."

For her part, European rookie Albane Valenzuela (nationalized Swiss) says that "the energy that the team transmits is incredible, I am having a lot of fun. In Solheim the key is to play for the others, for Europe. It is a great pride to be here, a new experience, I am lost for words, this week means a lot, different from other weeks in the LPGA. You have to play very aggressively, the Americans are going to go with everything, we on the other hand have to know how to play defensively sometimes and not attack so much."