Pahalgam: Delhi golfer Vani Kapoor continued with her dream run in the Hero Women’s Professional Golf Tour 2014, as she walked away with her fourth winners cheque in the Sixth leg today at the picturesque Lidder Valley Golf Course in Pahalgam.
The INR 7,00,000 tournament saw the current Hero Order of Merit leader card a final round score of one over 72 to finish her campaign at the top spot with a score of two under 211 after 54 holes. Chandigarh’s Saaniya Sharma finished second trailing Vani by a single shot, while veteran Delhi golfer Smriti Mehra finished at the third place carding level par 213 after 54 holes.
Vani, who started the day at the second spot, has her consistency in the first two rounds to credit for her victory on Friday. The otherwise tough final round which only saw three under par scores saw the Delhi youngster surpass some tricky hurdles in the form of two bogeys on the 5th and 11th holes, along with a double bogey on the 12th hole. Her three birdies on the 4th, 8th and 17th holes brought her the much-needed respite in her troubled final round.
Chandigarh’s Saaniya Sharma gave a match winning performance today, being one of the three golfers carding the day’s lowest total of one under 70. Saaniya started the day at tied fifth and played a brilliant bogey free front nine, with two consecutive birdies on the 8th and 9th holes. Her performance on the back nine spelled trouble for her as she made two double bogeys on the 10th and 13th holes. However she quickly stabilized herself carding three quick birdies on the14th, 17th and 18th holes. Saaniya finished the tournament at the second spot carding a total of 212 after 54 holes.
Overnight leader, Smriti Mehra had a bad day at office, as she could not maintain her lead and finished third carding a total of 213 after the final round. Smriti’s final round score of four over 75 spoiled her chances of winning her second title on the hero Women’s Professional Golf Tour 2014. Smriti started off her final round on a strong note with a relatively impressive front nine, which consisted of three birdies on the 1st, 8th and 9th holes along with a single bogey on the 4th hole. Her back nine began with a bogey on the 10th hole followed by a triple bogey on the 11th. Thereafter her round was a mixed bag with two bogeys on the 13th and 17th holes and two birdies on the 12th and 14th holes. Her back nine though wasn’t very impressive but still kept her chances alive of entering a play-off for the top spot with Vani Kapoor, till she made a blunder on the 18th hole with a double bogey finishing her campaign at the third position.
Kapurthala golfer Gursimran Badwal, Kolkata’s Neha Tripathi and Chandigarh Amateur Tavleen Batra finished tied fourth with identical scores of 216 after 54 holes. Delhi’s Ankita Tiwana, Pretinder Kaur from Chandigarh and Delhi Amateur Meher Atwal finished tied sixth with identical scores of 219 after the final round. Ankita was another golfer apart from Saaniya Sharma and Pallavi Jain who carded the day’s lowest total of one under 70 today in the final round. Pallavi Jain finished eighth with a total score of 220 after 54 holes.
The Hero Women’s Professional Golf Tour 2014 comprises a total of fifteen legs spanning across key locations in India. The tour now moves to the Royal Springs Golf Course in Srinagar and will be played from the 24th-26th of June 2014.
