Golfer Smriti in come-from-behind victory

Veteran Smriti Mehra showed her experience to pull off a stunning win at the Rs.6 lakh Hero-Oxford Women's Pro Golf Championship, the sixth leg of the Hero Women's Professional Golf Tour, at the picturesque Oxford Golf and Country Club here Friday.

Smriti, who started the day at tied fourth, played excellent golf to finish her final round with the day's lowest total of three under 69 and top the leaderboard with a total of 214 after 54 holes.

Trailing Smriti by a stroke to finish as runner-up at 215 was Kapurthala youngster Gursimar Badwal. Overnight leader Vaishavi Sinha finished third, carding 216.

Smriti started her campaign carding three successive birdies on the second, third and fourth holes followed by just a lone bogey on the ninth in her front nine. Her back nine was relatively uneventful as she carded just one bogey on the 11th. The highlight of her game was an eagle on the 16th which virtually sealed her victory.

Gurismar, on the other hand, played a controlled round which consisted of four birdies on the second, ninth, 16th and 18th along with three bogeys on the 5th, 10th and 12th. Gursimar, who celebrated her 23rd birthday Thursday, could not have asked for a better birthday present, finishing runner-up.

Vaishavi lost out on her momentum, starting with a bogey on the first hole. The overnight leader's final round of one over 73 included four bogeys on the first, eighth, 10th and 11th. Her round also consisted of three birdies on the third, ninth and 15th.

Indian origin British golfer Kiran Matharu finished fourth with 219, followed by Vani Kapoor in fifth with 220. Local girl Shweta Galande along with Kolkata's Neha Tripathi finished at tied sixth with identical totals of 221. Chandigarh's Saaniya Sharma, Bengaluru's Sharmila Nicollet and Panchkula's Amandeep Drall finished tied eighth with 222.

The tour now moves for its seventh and last leg to the Poona Club Golf Course to be played from March 2 to 5.