Chiara Tamburlini has made golfing history after becoming the first Swiss player to be crowned Rookie of the Year on the Ladies European Tour
The 24-year-old from St Gallen has enjoyed an impressive first year on Europe’s top tier professional women’s circuit, accumulating 2,623 points from 23 events and now has an unassailable lead in the season-long competition to crown the best new player on Tour.
Tamburlini played on the LET Access Series in 2023, turning professional in August and securing two victories which saw her finish third on the Order of Merit and clinch her LET card for the 2024 season.
It was a good start to the year for the Swiss player as she had top-10 finishes at the Kenya Ladies Open and in the individual event at the Aramco Team Series Tampa, before capturing her maiden LET title at the Joburg Ladies Open.
Over the summer, the 24-year-old recorded a T2 finish at the Jabra Ladies Open, T10 in her homeland at the VP Bank Swiss Ladies Open and a fourth-place finish at the KPMG Women’s Irish Open.
Tamburlini secured her second victory of the season winning via a playoff at the Lacoste Ladies Open de France and followed that up with a T3 in the individual event at the Aramco Team Series Shenzhen.
The University of Mississippi graduate then clinched her third title of the season at the Wistron Ladies Open in Taiwan to all but seal her Rookie of the Year title.
“Winning the Rookie of the Year award is a goal I set myself at the start of the year – a very high goal – but one that I thought was achievable, and I can’t believe I’ve done it,” said Tamburlini. “To see the list of players who have won Rookie of the Year is great and to be the first player from Switzerland to win the title is an honour. I have really enjoyed my first season on the LET getting to know all the players and staff.”
She added: “Winning a tournament is special, so to be able to win three times in my first year on Tour has been unbelievable and I’m looking forward to the last couple of events and hopefully, being in a position to win the Order of Merit as well.”
With the LET Order of Merit still in the balance, Tamburlini can become the seventh player to win both titles in the same season following in the footsteps of Laura Davies, Carlota Ciganda, Esther Henseleit, Jeeno Thitikul, Linn Grant and Trichat Cheenglab.
The LET season continues this week with the Aramco Team Series presented by PIF – Riyadh before the year culminates in the season-ending Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España at the end of November.