Gurugram, March 17 (IANS) Gaurika Bishnoi edged out Tvesa Malik in a tight title clash on the final day of the sixth leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour (WPGT) at the Classic Golf and Country Club here on Friday.
The duo turned in brilliant bogey-free rounds. Gaurika played 4-under 68 in the final round and Tvesa shot 3-under 69. After 54 holes they were locked at 6-under 210 leading to a play-off which lasted three more holes.
There were some amazing scores on the final as seven players had under-par rounds and three more played par rounds. The top seven had under-par totals.
Gaurika won the playoff on the third extra hole as she birdied it while Tvesa managed only a par. Earlier both birdied the first playoff hole on the 10th and parred the next one on the 17th. On the third playoff hole on the 18th, Gaurika birdied once again and made amends for missing out in the previous leg when she finished second to Sneha Singh.
Gaurika became the fifth different winner in the six events held so far.
When the final day started, Amandeep Drall led at 7-under and played in the lead group with Tvesa and Vani Kapoor, who were four shots behind at 3-under 141. Gaurika Bishnoi at 2-under for 36 holes was in the second group.
Gaurika played a steady final round with two birdies on the front nine on the first and the eighth holes. She added a third on the 13th and finished with a birdie on the 18th to set the clubhouse target of 6-under 210.
Vani Kapoor birdied the second but a double bogey on the ninth spoilt her chances. She did fight back with three birdies in four holes between the 12th and 15th, but with pars on the last three holes she ended one shot behind the target set by Gaurika,
Tvesa playing in the lead group parred her first 12 holes and missed a few birdie chances. She then landed back-to-back birdies on the 13th and 14th to get back into contention. Three more pars on the 15th, 16th, and 17th meant Tvesa was still one behind when she came to the 18th green, where Gaurika had holed a final birdie a short while earlier to take the lead.
Tvesa hit her second shot into thick grass on the 18th but produced a superb third shot under pressure to land four feet from the pin and holed it to force a playoff.
Amandeep bogeyed twice against one birdie on the front nine but was still ahead at the turn. However, she had a very rough day on the back nine as she bogeyed the 10th and 11th and had three more bogeys from the 15th to the 17th. Not even an eagle on the 18th could save her as she finished at 4-under 212 after a final round of 75.
Amandeep was tied with Neha Tripathi (66) for the fourth place as Vani Kapoor was sole third at 5-under 211.
Though the top two, Gaurika and Tvesa, turned in bogey-free efforts and played some exciting golf, the day’s best round came from Neha Tripathi, who had three birdies on either side of the course for a bogey-free 66.
Hitaashee Bakshi (72) was sixth at 2-under 214, while Asmitha Sathish (68) was seventh at 1-under 215. Seher Atwal (72) was eighth at even par 216.
Amateurs Nishna Patel (70) and Anvvi Dahhiya (72) were ninth and tenth. Sneha Singh who shot 1-under 71 and finished 12th, continues to lead the Hero Order of Merit, while Seher Atwal is lying second.
The seventh leg of the Hero WPG Tour will be held next week at the DLF Golf and Country Club.
–IANS
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