Sharmila grabs LET card, finishes 17th in Final Stage

Sharmila finished the week at nine-under and managed par or sub-par rounds in each of the five rounds. The Indian golfer finished her final round in even par 72, just as she had in the fourth round.

Her scores in the five rounds were 68, 70, 69, 72, 72 for a total of nine-under 351. Another Indian Smriti Mehra, who missed the cut in the Final Stage, will get three starts as the top player on Hero Order of Merit for 2012.

Thailand's 17-year-old Ariya Jutanugarn secured her LET Ladies European Tour card in impressive style by winning the Lalla Aicha Tour School Final Stage by five shots from England's Emily Taylor and Australian Nikki Campbell.

The 17-year-old who is still an amateur shot a three under par 69 in the fifth and final round to end on a total of 336, 24 under par.

Sharmila was ecstatic about her qualification. She said, "I'm just overwhelmed right now with excitement. Last year, I qualified and this year being the only Indian, I'm quite upset that there are not many other Indians that qualified, I wanted a whole group to be in, but I'm super-happy that I managed to get in."

"I didn't play to my expectations today or yesterday but the good thing is I didn't shoot any over par rounds. That was a goal: to stay under par. I think I accomplished that: I kept my card and I'm all set to get to as many events as possible next year."

On her showing in 2012, she added,"I learned a lot last year and I know what not to do, what to do, and where to improve. I think my approach has made a few changes and it's showing." MORE