Born in Pamplona, Spain, Ciganda started to play golf aged five, influenced by her father. Her uncle is the former football player and coach José Ángel Ziganda. She attended college in the United States at Arizona State University from 2008 to 2011,[1] where she majored in Business Administration. Ciganda speaks four languages.[2]
Amateur career
Ciganda enjoyed a successful amateur career, winning the British Ladies Amateur in 2007. She returned to the finals in 2009, but was runner-up to compatriot and ASU teammate Azahara Muñoz. Ciganda won the European Ladies Amateur Championship in 2004 and 2008, and was the Spanish National age group champion from 2000 to 2006. She was a member of Spain's 2006 and 2008 Espirito Santo Trophy teams, finishing second in 2008; 2005 and 2007 European Junior Solheim Cup teams and 2004 and 2006 European Junior Ryder Cup teams. While at Arizona State, she was a member of the Sun Devils' NCAA championship team in 2009 as a freshman, and made conference history as the first to win consecutive Pac-10 Championships in 2009 and 2010; she finished third in 2011.
Ciganda played in a number of professional tournaments as an amateur and first took part in the 2005 Tenerife Ladies Open at age 14. Although on that occasion she did not make the cut, she finished as the best Spanish representative in several professional tournaments, including the 2007 Open De España Femenino, when she finished eighth and the 2008 Tenerife Ladies Open when she was third, three shots behind the winner, Rebecca Hudson.[3]
Professional career
Ciganda turned professional in May 2011 making her debut the following month at the Tenerife Ladies Match Play, an unofficial event on the LET schedule, where she finished second to Becky Brewerton. She competed on the Ladies European Tour Access Series that season, winning the Murcia Ladies Open. In the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament in December 2011 she finished tied 34th, earning Priority List Category 20 for the 2012 LPGA Tour season and went on to finish third at the LET Final Qualifying School tournament later that month to earn full playing rights for the 2012 Ladies European Tour season.[3]
In her first full season on the 2012 Ladies European Tour, Ciganda won the ISPS Handa Order of Merit and was also named Players' Player of the Year, as voted for by the LET members. She played in 19 tournaments, with two victories at the Deloitte Ladies Open and the China Suzhou Taihu Open and had ten additional top-10s finishes. Her efforts won her the LET Rookie of the Year award and she ended the season ranked second on the European Solheim Cup points list with total earnings of €251,289.95.[3]
Ciganda was the ladies' winner of the 2019 AON Risk Reward Challenge, collecting the $1,000,000 prize.
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