Smriti Mehra in Final Qualifying

Report by Anand Datla

November 8, 2014: Smriti Mehra closed out the 2015 Tour School Pre Qualifying C – Asia tournament with a 76 in the final round on Saturday. Her effort (74-75-71-76) was just about enough to see her through to the Final Qualifying School. The top seven and ties were eligible to get through and Smriti finished sixth with an overall score of 8-over 296.

Though her final round score was the highest score for the Indian this week, the field was not very far away, helping the Indian edge her way forward. In fact the best final round score was only a 73, shot by amateurs Wei Wei Zhang and Jia Yi Zhou.

Jienalin Zhang was the only woman to finish with a sub-par score, winning the event after posting a 74 to complete her week. Jienalin had an overall score of one under 287.

Her compatriot Wei was just a shot behind, signing off with an overall score of 288, which was even par through four rounds. Wei could have easily won the tournament, but for consecutive bogeys at the last two holes. The first round leader Thanuttra Boonraksasat finished third behind the two Chinese golfers. The Thai golfer made a 77 on Saturday for an overall score of 4-over 292.

Jia finished fourth at 6-over 294 after shooting a 73 on the final day. Her first five holes were action packed, resulting in three bogeys and two birdies as she got off to an exciting start. She settled down from there to close her card at one over for the day.

Neha Tripathi shot a 76 to finish in a tie for ninth with Phillis Meti. Neha ended her week at 17-over 305, six shots behind the last woman to qualify for the Final Qualification School. Amateur Cai Danting had the honour after finishing with 11-over 299.

Ankita Tiwana fell to the bottom of the chart after an 82 in the final round. The Delhi girl finished with an ungainly 82 in the fourth round. She had a final score of 26-over 314.