Carlota Ciganda: “LIV Golf is a very easy way to earn money”

Carlota Ciganda (Pamplona, ​​1990) she landed on the Ladies European Tour permanently a decade ago, and in that same season of 2012 she showed what she is made of: she was chosen Rookie of the Year, Player of the Year and won the Order of Merit. Ten years later, the Navarrese is more than established in the golf elite with eight victories to her credit (two on the LPGA and six on the LET). Having overcome last year’s drop in results, Carlota smiles again. To his triumph in this 2022 at the Estrella Damn Ladies Open adds your third place a few weeks ago at the Evian Championship, the fourth major of the year. Ciganda touched in France his first major tournament as a professional, and He already thinks about the British Open that starts this Thursday in Muirfield, Scotland, where he will have a new opportunity to win a major. About her 10 years in the elite, her chances of victory in the British and other topics such as LIV Golf, she talks about the Spanish with AS.

Question: At the Evian Championship is the closest time you have felt that you could win a major?

Answer: Yes, indeed yes. On Sunday I thought I could win, especially in the second half of the lap, when I was two strokes behind the leader. She was playing very well, taking a lot of the green, and it was a shame she didn’t get a couple more putts. On the par 5s I didn’t make as many birdies as I usually do. In general I played golf well, I didn’t do any bogeys over the weekend and I’m happy with the job.

Victory at Estrella Damn, top-3 in the major… Do you feel like you’re coming to the British Open being able to win?

Hopefully it will be like that. In golf, every week is new and you start from scratch. What you have done gives you security, but you have to remain humble and continue. I do have confidence and I know I can be there and win any tournament.

In a sport of constant change like golf, what have you changed lately to achieve this great moment of form?

It is a job I have been doing for many years. This season I have worked a lot with my coach, the fruits are being seen now, but since January, when I went to Arizona, I have been training. Things didn’t work out and we had to continue, now I’m playing better and I’m happy about it.

It has been 10 years since she entered the Ladies European Tour, where she swept her first season. What remains of that Carlota and what is different?

I’m still the same person in terms of winning and wanting to play tournaments, win, be on top. The change has been that I have much more experience, I know more about the fields, life… I have had to travel a lot and from that you learn, I have gotten many good things.

Also on its calendar is the Aramco Series in Sotogrande from August 18. Your last three victories have come in Spain, is playing here a plus for you?

I’ve always liked playing in Spain, I’m good at it and I’ve won several tournaments. I really want to play in Sotogrande. I was able to play at La Reserva Club when I was an amateur, I don’t remember much, but what I do remember is that the area was very good. My family will come to see me and that is something that motivates me.

The Solheim Cup will be played in Spain next year. Is it the appointment that you notice the most when you look at the calendar?

Without a doubt it is one of the goals for next year, I hope I can be there, I would be very excited. A Solheim in Spain is the best. Yes, I have it in mind, but I don’t want to rush it either. There is one year left, golf is long and to be there you have to do things well every day. I also don’t want to focus only on that when there is so much time left.

Since 2016, he has always closed the ranking within the world top-20. However, last year he finished in 46th place. Is that something you pay close attention to?

I like being on top, obviously, but it’s not something that obsesses me. I try to do the work every day, and if you give it your all, you can’t do much else either. There are players who come from below and who play very well. The level is increasing and I try to do my thing so that at the end of the year I will see where I am and how I can improve.

When you see that you drop positions in the ranking or that the results do not arrive, do you have a hard time or do you try to abstract yourself?

It’s not easy when things don’t go well, that’s why it’s important to surround yourself with a good team, a good environment that supports you and is there for whatever you need. You have to be calm when things are going well for you and when they are not. You are not so good when you win, nor are you so bad when you lose. The moment something is not going well, I analyze what is happening and look with my team for a plan to improve. When things go well, I try to write down what works for me to follow that line.

In social networks he has congratulated athletes such as Rafa Nadal or Tiger Woods. Who are his sporting references and do they inspire him?

Rafa Nadal is my idol, he has always been the athlete I liked the most. I love seeing him compete, giving it his all and the respect that he has. I also like him as a person, he is someone very normal, familiar, humble. I played with him in Mallorca several years ago, he is very competitive and plays golf very well. It was wonderful to be with him for a couple of days and to be able to listen to him and learn.

What do you think about everything that is happening around LIV Golf?

I understand both parts. I understand who wants to continue on the PGA Tour, especially young people who have a lot ahead of them and who want to continue winning majors and tournaments. At the same time, I understand people who are a little older, who have been on the PGA Tour for many years and who have decided to go to LIV for money, obviously. They play eight, ten tournaments, three days, no court… It’s a very easy way to earn money, to have fun. It is very difficult to say no to those amounts. If you are not in that position, it is very easy to criticize, but if they ask you to go and they give you many millions, I think practically everyone would go.

You are an ambassador for Golf Saudi. Do you understand the moral debate that exists about the money that these countries invest in sports, and more specifically in golf?

No, not much. I see it as they want to put money into the sport. They have so much money that they hardly know what to do with it. They are involved in Formula 1, now in golf, they want to get into more sports. I think you have to take advantage of it. Obviously, there are things about the country that I don’t like, like everyone else, but I think they want to clean up the image a little bit with sport, and I think it’s a good way to do it.

Understands words and the feeling of Sergio García after the British Open?

It’s a shame everything is happening. In the end, the three circuits will have to sit down and talk and reach an agreement because in the end more and more players are going to go to LIV. That tournaments like the Ryder, which is the greatest show in the world, are not going to be able to some players, I think it is not fair. Golfers like Sergio, who is the one who has won the most points, it is a shame that with everything he has given, it ends like this. Is not easy. In the end, each one has to see what is best for their interests: the European Tour for them, the PGA Tour for them, Sergio for him… And decisions are being made that are good for some and not for others, it is what is there right now.

It’s been two years since the Scandinavian Open mixed tournament has been held. What do you think of these types of proposals?

It is very positive, everything that is mixed tournaments, different, attracts people. For a girl to win, Linn Grant, taking nine shots out of second place is incredible and she shows that we can compete with them. I think they are tournaments that make it nice for the spectator.

To end. What do you want for the next few weeks?

I would love to win again before the end of the year, although it is not something that obsesses me. The important thing is to do things well every day, and that will bring good results. I hope that victory can come.