Amateur Pranavi wins 9th leg of Hero WPGT

Amateur Pranavi Urs displayed a strong sense of purpose to shoot even par 72 for a total of 4-over 220 as she clinched the ninth leg of the Hero women's Pro golf Tour at the Eagleton golf resort here on Friday.

Staying calm through the final stages of the third and final round, Pranavi thus became the second amateur to win a title this season. Ridhima Dilawari was the first amateur to win a Hero WPGT event this season, when she finished on top at the seventh leg.

Tvesa Malik (75) and Gaurika Bishnoi (76) were tied-2nd and by virtue of finishing on top amongst the professionals, shared the honours on the giant cheque.

The consolation for Tvesa (Rs7,85,600) was that she moved to the top of the order of merit, overtaking Neha Tripathi (Rs7,53,200). Gursimar Badwal (Rs6,89,300) is third after being tied-4th this week with Neha.

Pranavi started the final day in third place and three behind the leader Gaurika, and two behind second placed Tvesa. She birdied the first and 18th and in between bogeyed the third and fourth.

A magnificent 25-foot putt on the final hole, which resulted in a birdie, tilted the balance in Pranavi's favour.

In a dramatic turn of events on the final day, Gaurika dropped a bunch of shots on the front nine. Pranavi caught up with her by the time they moved to the eighth tee.

At that stage, Tvesa had moved ahead into the lead at 2-over for 45 holes, while Pranavi and Gaurika were three behind at 5-over. Tvesa was even par 36 for the front nine, while Pranavi was 1-over 37 and Gaurika had a disappointing 4-over 40.

Pranavi, who had a birdie on the first and bogeys on third and fourth, maintained a steady tempo after her back-to-back bogeys on third and fourth. She parred all the way to the 17th and birdied the crucial 18th.

Meanwhile Tvesa, who parred her first 15 holes of the third round, seemed to crack under pressure on the Par-5 16th and dropped a vital double bogey. Clearly rattled by that she added to her woes with another bogey on 17th.

Gaurika, after her bogey on third, sixth and a double on seventh, stemmed the rot with a series of pars.

When the leader group arrived on the 18th tee, all three were tied at 4-over for the tournament with the prospect of a play-off looming large. That's where amateur Pranavi showed her mettle with a crucial birdie, while Tvesa and Gaurika managed only pars.

Gursimar (75) and Neha (76) finished tied-4th with a total of 224, while Trisha Sunil (76) was sixth at 225.

Amandeep Drall (74) and Anisha Padukone (74) were tied-7th at 228 as Suchitra Ramesh (78) was ninth at 229 and Sonam Chugh (74) rounded off the top-10.

--IANS

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