Cayetana Fernández shows herself to the world in Augusta

Cayetana Fernández, the new jewel of Spanish women’s golf, does not miss an opportunity to shine. The very young woman from Madrid, who this year will come of age, number 6 in the world amateur ranking, finished this Saturday fourth in the Augusta National Women’s Amateurthe women’s competition that hosts the mythical field of Georgia (USA) the week before the Masters. She beat Rose Zhang, the number one, in the second hole of the playoff that she had to play against her compatriot after collapsing with a +4 when she enjoyed a large income worked in the previous two days. None of the other three Spaniards called up, Carolina López-Chacarra, Carla Tejedo and Julia López.

Cayetana was one of the three players who prevailed on the track in an exciting final day. He scored a -1 for -3 with more lights than shadows, such as the birdie darts in the ninth and seventh. The biggest cloud was a ball into the water at 11 that cost him a double bogey, accompanied by bogeys at 10 and 13. But he showed packing in a final stretch in which he scratched three birdies from 15 to 18 to finish in positive.

World Under-18 champion, runner-up in the British Girl Amateur, winner of the Toyota World Cup, absolute Spanish champion (something she achieved at the age of 16), she came to lead the Costa del Sol Open on the women’s European circuit last year, in her first Out with the professionals. In the world of golf since he was five years old, he has headed to the United States to study in the demanding golf system of its universities (he studies at Texas A&M).

“Playing in the LPGA, winning a big one and participating in the Solheim Cup”, are the dreams that this pearl confessed to AS in an interview in December. Since he entered the amateur ranking, he has accumulated five victories and 19 top-10s in 34 tournaments played. Watching his performance every time he’s given a high-calibre opportunity, it looks like he’s going to deliver.