June 20, 2014. Vani Kapoor bags the Pahalgam Leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Tour with a two under par 211. She picked up birdies on the 4th, 8th and 17th holes. Hero Order of Merit leader Kapoor from Delhi played a consistent round to clinch the title and used bogeys by the Simi Mehra to her advantage. Mehra, India’s most experienced female golfer held her lead in the first two rounds even as Vani was knocking at the heels and finished even par 213 for the three rounds. Today Mehra’s hurtful bogeys at 11th and 18th cost her the trophy.
Saaniya Sharma finished 2nd picking a fair bit of birdies across today’s round from 8th, 9th, 14th, 17th and 18th. These came useful to close the tournament one under par 212.
[Also read: Round 2 Report]
Vani who started the day at the second spot, has her consistency in the first two rounds to credit for her victory today. The otherwise tough final round which only saw three under par scores saw the Delhi youngster surpass some tricky hurdles in the form of two bogeys on the 5th and 11th holes, along with a double bogey on the 12th hole. Her three birdies on the 4th, 8th and 17th holes brought her the much-needed respite in her troubled final round.
Chandigarh’s Saaniya Sharma gave a match winning performance today, being one of the three golfers carding the day’s lowest total of one under 70. Saaniya started the day at tied fifth and played a brilliant bogey free front nine, with two consecutive birdies on the 8th and 9th holes. Her performance on the back nine spelled trouble for her as she made two double bogeys on the 10th and 13th holes. However she quickly stabilized herself carding three quick birdies on the14th, 17th and 18th holes. Saaniya finished the tournament at the second spot carding a total of 212 after 54 holes.
Overnight leader, Smriti Mehra had a bad day at office, as she could not maintain her lead and finished third carding a total of 213 after the final round. Smriti’s final round score of four over 75 spoiled her chances of winning her second title on the hero Women’s Professional Golf Tour 2014. Smriti started off her final round on a strong note with a relatively impressive front nine, which consisted of three birdies on the 1st, 8th and 9th holes along with a single bogey on the 4th hole. Her back nine began with a bogey on the 10th hole followed by a triple bogey on the 11th. Thereafter her round was a mixed bag with two bogeys on the 13th and 17th holes and two birdies on the 12th and 14th holes. Her back nine though wasn’t very impressive but still kept her chances alive of entering a play-off for the top spot with Vani Kapoor, till she made a blunder on the 18th hole with a double bogey finishing her campaign at the third position.
Kapurthala golfer 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 after the final round. Ankita was another golfer apart from Saaniya Sharma and Pallavi Jain who carded the day’s lowest total of one under 70 today in the final round. Pallavi Jain finished eighth with a total score of 220 after 54 holes.
