RIYADH: Consistency has been the name of the game for Slovenian Pia Babnik, as back-to-back bogey free rounds of seven-under-par sees her atop the leaderboard of the Aramco Team Series presented by PIF — Riyadh.
It is a remarkable turnaround for Babnik, who only last week finished up +19 on the Ladies European Tour in India at the Hero Women’s Indian Open.
Her round at the Golf Saudi-organized event included a sensational 18 greens in regulation round Riyadh Golf Club, marking a performance to be proud of for the winner of the Aramco Team Series presented by PIF in Jeddah in 2021.
The round of the day, however, went the way of Fatima Fernandez Cano, who carded a blemish free 10-under-par score of 62 — even going close to equaling the course record of 61, set by Alison Lee in 2023.
Fernandez Cano struggled with injuries last year and almost called it quits and, if not for the help of her doctor, would certainly not be celebrating today’s stellar round.
“In the end, it was just two nerves that were trapped in my right forearm,” the Spaniard said. “The only problem is I took forever to figure out what was wrong with it, because it would only happen when the muscle was contracted.
“I almost stepped away from the game, I was ready to quit. But I went to see one final doctor, and luckily, he knew what to do. It’s been a rollercoaster.”
Despite a bogey early on in her round, England’s Charley Hull rebounded to record a five-under-par score of 67 — aided by a brilliant back nine in which she sunk five birdies to keep her in touching distance of the top.
Meanwhile, it was victory for captain Chiara Tamburlini and her group in the team element of the event — wrapping up the title with ease after a net score of -42 across the first two days of the tournament.
The Swiss rookie, who is in pole position to claim the LET Order Of Merit, becomes the first captain in the series to win the team event in successive events, following her win in Shenzhen at the start of October.
Tamburlini was keen to heap praise on the team spirit in the group, particularly their amateur Tenniel Chu, vice-chairman of Mission Hills Group — the host of the previous event in Shenzhen — who was prophetic on the first tee.
“Tenniel was incredible,” said the victorious captain. “I had met him in China at Mission Hills, and we were joking about the trophy. He said: ‘I don’t see your name on there yet, but it’s fine, they can just do it twice back-to-back,’ and he was right!”
Her group, made up of English starlet Mimi Rhodes and France’s Anne-Charlotte Mora, set an additional record — the largest margin of victory in the team event, an incredible ten strokes.
“It feels pretty cool to have done something that no one has done before,” Tamburlini said. “I just love this format. I think it’s so much fun to play for a team. It’s easy to keep pushing and the format of counting birdies, it’s really motivating. I think it suits my game well to play aggressive and go for the pins.”
Elsewhere, German Helen Briem moved into contention with a second straight day of five-under-par, tied in fifth behind Luna Salbron, who sits in third place on 11-under-par.
This is the final of this season’s five $1 million Aramco Team Series presented by PIF tournaments on the Ladies European Tour, all organized by Golf Saudi, who seek to grow the game of golf domestically and around the world by hosting elite-level golf events.
