Carlota Ciganda Wins $1 Million Aon Risk Reward Challenge Prize

Carlota Cigandais the $1 million dollar woman…

The 29-year-old Spanish LPGA golfer has won the inaugural Aon Risk Reward Challenge and the $1 million prize.

Carlota Ciganda

The goal of the season-long competition was to illustrate how the world’s best golfers are among the world’s best strategic decision makers. The competition measured the performance of LPGA Tourand PGA Tourgolfers on a series of challenging holes across various tournaments. Players took their best two scores from each hole, with the winners having the best average score to par at the end of the regular season.

Ciganda was 37 under par for 44 challenge holes played, giving her a winning score of -0.841. Ariya Jutanugarn(-0.833) was second, followed by Lee-Anne Pace(-0.731), Brooke Henderson(-0.720) and In-Kyung Kim(-0.714).

For Ciganda, an eight-year player on the LPGA Tour, the end of the season provided her with the most crucial risk-reward situations. Although she was a leading contender from the start of the competition, it wasn’t until the end of the season, at the Buick LPGA Shanghai and the BMW Ladies Championship, where she stretched her lead with eagle-birdie scores on challenge holes.

“I played very consistent the whole year. I love being aggressive. I love taking the risk. I love that,” Ciganda said at the CME Group Tour Championship, the final tournament of the season. “That’s golf for me. That’s par-5 going on two, going for the green. That’s what I love the most.”

In August, PGA golfer Brooks Koepka won the inaugural trophy and the $1 million prize. Both Koepka and Ciganda were awarded equal payments for their accomplishments in the challenge, a rarity between the PGA and LPGA Tours, which differ greatly in prize money.

“It’s an unbelievable prize,” Ciganda said. “It’s really amazing finally to get recognized with the same amount of money. I’m the winner, but women’s golf is the winner today. The LPGA is the winner. We’re all winners.”

In 2019, LPGA players competed for a record $70.2 million in total prize money, up $7.2 million from 2016. This week, at the CME Group Tour Championship, the entire field will compete for the $5 million purse. And, the $1.5 million winner’s check will be the largest single prize in the history of women’s golf. (For context, Brooks Koepka won nearly $2 million after clinching the 2019 PGA Championshipat Bethpage Black. The total purse was $11 million.)

“We couldn’t be more proud of this outcome, and maybe most proud of the equal prize money across the LPGA and PGA Tour,” Andy WeitzAonChief Marketing Officer, said. “It’s really great to see the level of consistency and high performance across both tours, and to see these players come out ahead at the end was incredibly exciting.”

Ciganda will compete at the final LPGA tournament of the 2019 season, the CME Group Tour Championship. Ciganda is currently ranked No. 14 in Women’s World Golf Rolex Rankings.

Ciganda Wins LPGA Lorena Ochoa Invitational

Carlota Ciganda is a woman on top… of the leaderboard.

The 26-year-old Spanish golfer turned her hot start into a four-under par 68 on Sunday and a two-shot triumph in the LPGA Lorena Ochoa Invitational, her second victory in two months.

Carlota Ciganda

An eagle at the par-five second hole was followed by four birdies with two bogeys as Ciganda built a 13-under par total of 275.

That put her two clear of England’s Jodie Ewart Shadoff, France’s Karine Icher, Australian Sarah Jane Smith and Americans Austin Ernst and Angela Stanford.

Ernst, who took a one-shot lead into the final round in pursuit of a second career crown, carded a one-under par 71.

Smith, a Queenslander seeking her first title, had shared the first-round lead with Ciganda and led outright at the halfway stage. She closed with a two-under 70, while Shadoff seized her slice of second with a 67 and Stanford and Icher both signed for 69s.

Ciganda started the day one stroke behind Ernst. That was nothing like the five-shot deficit she made up in October to capture her first LPGA title in the Korea LPGA Championship in Incheon with a playoff victory over American Alison Lee.

That Pamplona native, a three-time winner on the Ladies European Tour, the third European winner on the LPGA tour this year, following Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist and Germany’s Caroline Masson.

Ciganda Earns Her Second Title on the Ladies European Tour

Carlota Ciganda is having a remarkable year…

Carlota Ciganda

In her first visit to China, the 22-year-old Spanish golfer notched her second title on the Ladies European Tour this Sunday with an impressive victory at the Suzhou Taihu Open.

The tour rookie, who claimed her maiden win in Holland this summer, displayed her extraordinary talent by firing a bogey-free course record eight-under-par 64 in warm and hazy conditions at the Suzhou Taihu International Golf Club.

Carlota Ciganda
Following her top-of-the-standing performance in the second round on Saturday, Ciganda – who made conference history becoming the first back-to-back Pac-10 Champion while attending Arizona State University – romped to a seven-stroke victory with a tournament record 17 under par in the 54-hole event, going one stroke better than world No. 1 Yani Tseng the previous year.