Can Spain end the Americans' run at the Spirit International? Cayetana Fernandez Garcia-Poggio thinks so

TRINITY,Texas — The immense pressure, according to Cayetana Fernandez Garcia-Poggio, has been slowly slipping away. She’s not sure if it’s because she’s easing up on herself a little or if the game is just slowing down after two full seasons of SEC golf.

When the Spaniard came to play at Texas A&M in the fall of 2023, she was the second-ranked women’s amateur in the world. The pressure to win was intense, and the winner of the 2022 World Junior Girls Championship and Junior Golf World Cup expected the victories to keep piling up.

She got into two events on the Ladies European Tour and shined in each, tying for third in her debut at the Madrid Ladies Open, and then she led after 36 holes at the tour’s season finale – the Spanish Women’s Open – before eventually placing T-5.

But it took a bit to acclimate to college golf after her sister Bianca left College Station. Fernandez Garcia-Poggio played well, but not at the insanely high standard she’d previously set.

Cayetana Fernández García-Poggio tees off during a practice round at the 2024 Spirit International (Photo: Hugh Hargrave/Spirit Golf)

Whether others were applying pressure or not, she now admits the struggle was internal.

“When I got here, I put all expectations on me,” she said on an 80-degree Tuesday at Whispering Pines Golf Course. “I was like I need to play good. I need to prove that I’m good. And that didn’t help me at all.”

To be fair, Fernandez Garcia-Poggio had a banner freshman year, finishing as a second-team All-SEC selection and contributing the second-lowest stroke average for a freshman in Aggie history.

But the hard work finally paid off at the end of October when the 19-year-old shot a 4 under through three rounds to capture the Charles Schwab Women’s Collegiate at Ridglea Country Club in Ft. Worth, her first collegiate title. She finally got back into a winner’s circle and has set the wheels in motion for what could be a big spring campaign.

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Before she returns to SEC action, Fernandez Garcia-Poggio is feeling truly at home at the Spirit International, a biennial event that brings teams of two male and two female players together from multiple countries. So while she’s enjoying the sunny surroundings of her adopted home of Texas, she’s playing for Spain with friends Carla Bernat Escuder (Kansas State), Pablo Ereno Perez (UCLA) and fellow Aggie Jaime Montojo Fernandez.

“I love Texas,” she said. “I’ve played here before at this course and I love it. It’s so peaceful. And I’m enjoying college a lot. I love being here. But I do miss home sometimes and to be able to play with my friends, talk Spanish and represent Spain, this is nice.”

Opening ceremonies for the Spirit were held Tuesday night and competition for the 2024 event starts Thursday and runs through Saturday.

The team to beat for years has been the American squad, as the hosts have won five of the last six tournaments with only a slight hiccup in 2019 when France proved victorious. The U.S. side is stacked again with North Carolina senior David Ford,  Tommy Morrison of Texas, USC star Jasmine Koo and high school phenom Asterisk Talley. Other countries represented include Argentina, Australia, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, England, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Scotland, South Africa, Sweden and Switzerland.

Jaime Montojo Fernandez, Pablo Ereno Perez, captain Sofia Marcos De Prat, Cayetana Fernandez Garcia-Poggio and Carla Bernat Escuder of Team Spain at the Spirit International. (Photo: Hugh Hargrave/Spirit Golf)

But Fernandez Garcia-Poggio thinks her team has what it takes to stop the run.

“I have to say, I think we have a really good team and we have a lot of odds to win, but you never know because it’s golf, right? But (Wednesday), we played amazing, all four of us. So I think we could win and hopefully take America.”

The Spirit has hosted numerous stars before, players like Lorena Ochoa, Lexi Thompson, Brooke Henderson, Charley Hull and Rose Zhang.

Fernandez Garcia-Poggio thinks a big week at the Spirit could help propel her into a similar space.

“I think I’m ready to push this season, the spring season, and hopefully starting this tournament,” she said. “I love competing and I love to have those nerves whenever you are about to win or you can win. So even though I put pressure on myself, I think I’m working on it and I’m getting better.”