Spanish star

Spanish golf has long carried a proud tradition on the game’s grandest stages.

From the pioneer and genius that was Seve Ballesteros, to the force that is currently Jon Rahm, and from perennial major challenger Carlota Ciganda to Azahara Muñoz, Spain now has a new name that is rapidly being stitched into its fabled golfing tapestry.

Paula Martín Sampedro is someone to remember.

During her AIG Women’s Open debut at Royal Porthcawl in 2025, the young Spaniard announced herself to the world with a remarkable performance to finish in T8 and claim the coveted Smyth Salver – the prize reserved for the Championship’s leading amateur.

For much of the week on the Mid Glamorgan coast, Paula looked entirely at home amongst the game’s leading players. The winds of Porthcawl provided a stern test of the skill and resolve of every player battling for glory in South Wales.

Yet, the then 19-year-old from Madrid flourished around Porthcawl’s testing set-up after displaying a calm temperament and creativity so often associated with Spain’s great champions.

Rounds of 72 and 74 gave Martín Sampedro a halfway score of two-over-par, and with it, passage into the weekend after she made the cut by a single stroke – the three birdies the amateur carded during her second round proving crucial after she began by bogeying two of her first three holes.

The Stanford University student found herself locked in a three-way battle for low amateur honours alongside compatriot Carla Bernat and Malaysia’s Jeneath Wong.

But while Jeneath struggled on the Saturday with a 77, Paula took control of the race with a composed 70 – four shots better than eventual winner Miyu Yamashita’s third-round effort – to move to level par overall and lead Bernat by three strokes after she came home in 73.

However, Championship Sunday is so often the day where diamonds are formed and, on this occasion, it was Paula who thrived under the intense pressure.

The beginning of her final round began in a similar fashion to her second, as Paula found herself recording two early bogeys, including one at the 1st for the third time that week, before eventually completing the front nine in 38 strokes.

Royal Porthcawl had once again shown its teeth, yet what followed over the closing holes was perhaps the most exhilarating stretch of golf produced all week.

Beginning at the 11th, the Spaniard – who played alongside two-time Smyth Salver winner and defending Champion Lydia Ko – caught fire. Birdie after birdie followed in breathtaking succession as she surged through the leaderboard with the fearless attacking golf.

Paula reeled off five consecutive birdies from the 11th hole and ultimately played her final eight holes in six-under-par, recording a sensational back-nine 30 – the lowest inward half of the Championship.

By the time she tapped in on the 18th green, she had signed for a closing 68, the lowest final round of any player, and climbed into a share of eighth place at four-under-par overall.

"My first three or four holes were really rough," said Paula. "There was no way I was getting two on 1, it's a par 4. Then the first four holes, with perfect conditions were already so hard, so I knew it was going to be a tough beginning.

"And then I just managed to keep calm and hole a couple of putts, and then I started to see the lines better. It was definitely a good birdie stretch on the back nine."

It was the best finish by an amateur at the AIG Women’s Open since 2005 and secured Paula’s place as the Championship’s leading amateur – becoming the fourth Spaniard to do so after Marta Figueras-Dotti in 1982, Elisa Serramia in 2003, and Luna Sobron in 2015 – by a huge 13 strokes from Bernat.

There was a fitting symmetry to the achievement too, as Paula’s coach and caddie that week, Alejandro Larrazábal, had himself won The Amateur Championship at Royal Porthcawl in 2002.

The combination of her Sunday charge and ability to stave off the links course’s threat of ruining her various rounds showed that Paula could adapt when it mattered most. Where many would have faltered, the youngster embraced the challenge, trusted her aggressive instincts and displayed the coolness of major champions past and present.

And with Paula assured of a place at Royal Lytham & St Annes this year thanks to her top-10 finish, fans will get to see her in AIG Women’s Open action once again.

A standout junior in Spain, Paula captured the Spanish International Stroke Play Championship in 2021 before adding the Spanish Women’s Amateur title the following year.

Her rise continued after moving to the United States to join Stanford University where she helped the Cardinal win the NCAA Championship in 2024.

Prior to her exploits at Royal Porthcawl, Paula earned her place in South Wales thanks to a captivating 2&1 win over Farah O’Keefe to claim The 122nd Women’s Amateur Championship at Nairn in the June.

She then backed that triumph up the following month with a one-stroke victory at the European Ladies Amateur Championship.

Paula is second on the World Amateur Golf Ranking, behind only Kiara Romero from the USA, and is in line to defend her Women’s Amateur Championship crown at Muirfield next week.