June 29, 2018: Amandeep Drall got off to a brilliant start and then kept up the tempo to overturn a two-shot deficit into a four-shot win in the eighth leg of he Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour.
Amandeep, who was second on the Hero Order of Merit, bagged her first win of the season, which so far had been somewhat indifferent for her. Carding a final round of 4-under 68 she totaled 5-under 211, while overnight leader, Gaurika Bishnoi (74) and Trisha Sunil (73) were Tied-second at 1-under 215.
This was also the first time this season the top three finishers had all aggregated under-par totals.
The 25-year-old Panchkula golfer, Amandeep, who has been second in season-ending Order of Merit the last three seasons, had not won in four previous starts this year, as compared to eight titles in three previous seasons. Her best finish this year was T-2 in the sixth leg.
On Friday, starting the final round two shots behind overnight leader Gaurika, and one behind second placed Trisha, Amandeep was on fire with birdies on first two holes followed by yet another on fourth. Further birdies on eighth and 10th brought her to 5-under by which time she was comfortably in the lead. Over the last eight holes, she could afford two bogeys though she also had a birdie on 12th for the week’s best card of 4-under 68.
As Amandeep got off to a rollicking start, Gaurika was subdued with four pars and then collapsed with a bogey on fifth and a double bogey on sixth. That was followed by another bogey on ninth and she turned in 4-over 41 as compared to Amandeep’s 4-under 33 for the same front nine. That 8-shot swing decided the title. Trisha, meanwhile, also had a troublesome front nine with one birdie against three bogeys for a 2-over 39.
Amandeep did not buckle in the second nine and kept up the pressure with two birdies and two bogeys, while Trisha had one birdie and eight pars to card 73 and a total of 1-under 215. Gaurika’s none-too-happy run continued with a bogey on 10th at which point she was 5-over for the day. Not even a hat-trick of birdies from 13thto 15th could save her as she carded 74 and ended at 1-under 215 in T-2 alongside Trisha.
Suchitra Ramesh (73) finished fourth at 1-over 217, while Smriti Mehra (75) totaled 3-over 219 in fifth place. Anisha Padukone, who was sixth, had a sizzling front nine with five birdies against one bogey for a 4-under 33 and she had an even par 35 on back nine for a card of 68, that proved to be the week’s best alongside Amandeep’s 68.
Khushi Khanijau (72) was seventh while Tvesa Malik (71) came under par for the final round but her first two rounds of 78-74 saw her finish eighth. Neha Tripathi (76) was ninth and Siddhi Kapoor (76) rounded off the Top-10. Gursimar Badwal (73), the only player to win twice this season was 11th.
The Top-3 on the Order of Merit, Neha, Trisha and Gursimar finished way down, and that meant Neha (Rs.6,81,200) managed to keep her nose ahead in top spot, though her lead over Trisha (Rs.6,77,600) was further reduced to a meager Rs.3,600. Gursimar is lying third with Rs.6,17,300 and the biggest jump this week came from Amandeep Drall, who rose from 11th to fifth and now has earnings of Rs.4,09,800.
WGAI Tour Release
