Amateur Tvesa Malik saw off a strong challenge from Sharmila Nicollet and Amandeep Drall to bag her maiden title, shooting a two over 74 in the final round of the 16th Leg of the Hero Women’s Professional Golf Tour, here on Friday.
Tvesa, who started the day in the second position, played with extreme caution in difficult conditions to end with a total score of 221 after 54 holes.
She started well, carding consecutive birdies on the 1st and 2nd holes. A double bogey on the 4th was followed by a birdie on the 5th, but she dropped another shot on the 9th.
On her return, she dropped three more shots on the 13th, 15th and 16th holes before she ended her campaign with a birdie on the 18th. Her card of 2 over 74 was enough for her to annex her first title by a margin of two strokes. Her tally of four birdies was the best by any golfer on the day.
Rookie Amandeep Drall returned with a score of 3 over 75 to finish runners-up and walk away with the winner’s cheque by virtue of being a professional. She carded three birdies in her front nine on the 4th, 6th and 7th holes as against a bogey and a double on the 8thand 9th holes respectively.
The Panchkula golfer played a birdie-less back nine with three bogies on the 13th, 14th and 16th holes.
Sharmila finished with a score of 6 over 78 to occupy the third spot. The overnight leader started cautiously and carded two birdies on the 6th and 8th holes, which were neutralized by bogies on the 3rd and 9th holes.
However, her return journey was marred by errors, with bogies on the 10th, 12th, 13th, 15th and 17th holes, a double on the 11th hole and just a lone birdie on the 14th. She ended with a total of 224 after 54 holes.
Delhi’s Ankita Tiwana returned with a level par score, the best score of the day to finish fourth. Ankita’s card consisted of two birdies on the 7th and 14th holes, along with the same number of bogies on the 1st and 11th. She finished with a total score of 225.
Amateur Diksha Dagar took the fifth spot with a total of 226. Diksha carded three birdies on the 11th, 14th and 15th holes and could have finished higher but for bogies on the 9th, 10th, 17th and 18th along with a double bogey on the 6th hole. Her score of 3 over 75 was enough for her to secure a top-5 finish..
Delhi’s Vani Kapoor and Kolkata’s Smriti Mehra ended tied sixth with identical totals of 227. Hero Order of Merit leader Vani returned with a card of 1 over 71, while Smriti Mehra carded 4 over 76
Local girl Gauri Monga finished eighth with a total of 228, followed by Kapurthala’s Gursimar Badwal in the ninth spot with a total score of 231.
