A career-best third place at the Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España in Malaga on Sunday saw Ladies European Tour rookie Pranavi Urs finish her season on a high. Image courtesy LET.
By Rahul Banerji
Pranavi Urs took a fine sole third place at the season-ending Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España for her best finish on the Ladies European Tour in Malaga on Sunday.
The LET rookie shot scores of 66, 69, 71 and 68 to total 14 under par 271, four strokes behind event winner Carlota Ciganda of Spain who fired a closing 1 under 71to seal a one-stroke victory over Belgium’s Manon De Roey.
Ciganda set aside a nervous start on Sunday to card rounds of 67-66-66-71 at Real Club Guadalhorce Golf for her eighth title on the LET.
On Sunday, Pranavi, 22, opened with a birdie and promptly dropped a shot, but rolled in further birdies on holes six, seven, 10 and 12 to improve on her shared third place at the Dormy Open Helsingborg back im May.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better week! Well, I could if I had won, but I was close yesterday until the 13th hole,: Pranavi said on the LET website.
“I know where I can potentially be and how well I can play under pressure. I think I handled that situation pretty well yesterday, so it was a good week overall.”
Good run
With 17th place on Order of Merit and four top 10 placings in her very first season, the Mysore golfer showed she has well and truly arrived on the international stage
For Solheim Cup star Ciganda, it was a second title in the tournament after 2021 and also a fourth LET title in Spain, the LET said.
“I’m very happy to win here in Spain in front of so many people and my family, it’s always great to play here. I love Spain and it’s always very special,” said Ciganda.
“It wasn’t easy, sometimes when you have a four-shot lead. I haven’t been up there in a while, so I had some adrenaline going on and started with a couple of bogeys and Manon (De Roey) played really good on the front nine, so we were pretty tight those first few holes.
“I fought hard and I love when we are right there, I love to hit good shots, so I made a really good birdie on 14 and the putt on 17 was great too. I’m really happy to win here in Spain.”
Ciganda made her first birdies of the day on the fifth and added another on the seventh to have a one-shot lead over the Belgian, who also birdied the seventh hole.
On the back nine, Ciganda made a critical par but De Roey drew level on -17 with a three-foot birdie on hole 12. After that the Spanish star went back in front and although she bogeyed the last hole, she still had a one-stroke cushion.
Fighting display
“I fought really hard, I am a fighter. I try to give my 100% every time I play golf and that’s what I tried to do. It was a good day for me, but I just want to congratulate Manon because she did great,” Ciganda added.
“Especially on second shots, I thought if I give myself good chances on the last few holes and hole a couple of putts. She played amazing, I know she’s going to LPGA Q-School next week, so I wish her best of luck.
“I knew I had to make a lot of birdies today, I got off to a good start and she [Carlota] didn’t start that well,” said two-time LET winner De Roey.
“It was up and down the whole round; I got really close. I’m very happy with how I played, I played bogey-free again and didn’t really make any mistakes. I’m still really happy.
“The crowds were applauding for me which was nice, and I think there were some Belgians in there as well. It’s great playing with Carlota, she made some unbelievable up-and-downs today. I enjoyed it.”
Defending champion Aditi Ashok shot a closing 2 under 70 to total 7 under 281 for a share of 16th place, while Diksha Dagar and Tvesa Malik were further down the field.
Triple crown
In the season-long standings, Switzerland’s Chiara Tamburlini topped with 2,718.44 points, De Roey was second with 2,216.21 points and England’s Charley Hull third on 1,742 points.
Tamburlini was also named Players’ Player of the Year at the End of Season awards to take home a hat-trick of trophies, also taking Rookie of the Year honours.
The Swiss players came through the LET Access Series (LETAS) in 2023 and won three times on Tour this year with victories at the Joburg Ladies Open, Lacoste Ladies Open de France and Wistron Ladies Open – Taiwan.
Tamburlini said: “I want to say thank you to my fellow LET members for voting me as Players’ Player of the Year. Ever since I started in Kenya, everybody has been so incredibly welcoming, and I have enjoyed every minute on the golf course having such incredible people around me.
“I feel I’ve made so many incredible friends this year and I can’t wait until next year. I’m very proud to have this trophy with me.”
Also read: Rock-steady Pranavi shares third place at Open de Espana
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