Vani wins sixth leg of Hero golf

Delhi's Vani Kapoor continued her dream run in the Hero Women's Professional Golf Tour, walking away with her fourth winners' cheque in the sixth leg at the picturesque Lidder Valley Golf Course here Friday.

The Rs.7 lakh tournament saw the current Order of Merit leader card a final round score of one over 72 to finish her campaign at the top with a score of two under 211 after 54 holes.

Chandigarh's Saaniya Sharma finished second trailing Vani by a single shot while veteran Smriti Mehra finished third, carding level par 213 after 54 holes.

Vani, who started the day second, was consistent in the first two rounds to credit for her victory.

The otherwise tough final round saw the Delhi youngster surpass some tricky hurdles in the form of two bogeys on the fifth and 11th holes along with a double bogey on the 12th. Her three birdies on the fourth, eighth and 17th holes brought her the much needed respite in the troubled final round.

Saaniya gave a match winning performance, being one of three golfers to card the day's lowest total of one under 70. She started at tied fifth and played a brilliant bogey free front nine with two consecutive birdies on the eighth and ninth holes.

Her performance on the back nine spelled trouble as she made two double bogeys on the 10th and 13th. However, she quickly stabilised carding three quick birdies on the 14th, 17th and 18th. Saaniya finished second, carding a total of 212 after 54 holes.

Overnight leader Smriti had a bad day as she couldn't maintain her lead and finished third carding a total of 213. Her final round score of four over 75 spoiled her chances of winning her second title of the tour.

Smriti started off her final round on a strong note with a relatively impressive front nine which consisted of three birdies on the first, eighth and ninth holes along with a single bogey on the fourth.

Her back nine began with a bogey on the 10th followed by a triple bogey on the 11th. Thereafter her round was a mixed bag with two bogeys on the 13th and 17th and two birdies on the 12th and 14th. Her back nine wasn't very impressive but still she kept her nerve till she made a blunder on the 18th hole with a double bogey.

Kapurthala's 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.

Ankita, was another golfer apart from Saaniya and Pallavi Jain, who carded the day's lowest total of one under 70. Pallavi finished eighth with a total score of 220.

The tour comprises of 15 legs across India. The seventh round will be held at the Royal Springs Golf Course in Srinagar from June 24-26.