By Rahul Banerji
Delhi girl Nishtha Madan took a share of the opening day lead at the Cactus Tour tournament at Apache Junction, Arizona, on Monday.
Nishtha was 6-under par 66 alongside Katelyn Gilmore of Alabama in the 38th event of the Tour at the Apache Creek Golf Club.
In the opening round of the three-day event, Nishtha, 21, fired an eagle and four birdies in a clean sheet.
The Sacrament State graduate birdied the first and fifth holes in her outbound nine of 2-under 35.
She picked up pace on her way back to the clubhouse with further gains on the 13th and 14 before rounding off her day with an eagle-3 on the par-5 18th hole for a 4-under 33.
Nishtha, who trains with Roseville, California-based Noah Montgomery, also coach of leading Indian amateur Anika Varma, has already won twice since turning professional earlier this year.
Breakthrough
She broke through with the Kentucky Open title before taking a second win with a two-shot win at the Sun City South Golf Club in Sun City Arizona, this September.
Nishtha skipped the previous Cactus Tour event at Las Colinas in Queen Creek, Arizona, where Anika Varma was fourth on 8-under par 208 (68-71-69), five shots behind winner Britney Yada (-13).
She was runner-up at Sun City CC one shot behind winner Sofie Babic with rounds of 75, 77 and 72 towards the end of October, the 36th Cactus Tour tournament.
Earlier in the month at the Wigwam Heritage Red tournament in Litchfield Park, Arizona, Nishta brought in a T5 finish on 7-under 209 (71-69-69).
For her part, Anika has been playing a relatively restricted schedule and at the Colorado National Women’s Open in Erie, Colorado, she was third on level par 144 (74-70), three shots behind winner Hailey Schalk.
Runner-up Kelsey Webster was one shot ahead of Anika at the Colorado National Golf Club in the first week of October.
The Cactus Tour operates largely in Arizona and Nevada with an occasional event in California and has continued to run through the Covid-19 pandemic.
Soft start
Nishtha made her professional debut on the Cactus Tour in Scottsdale, Arizona in May with a middling finish at an event won by Germany’s Sophia Popov.
Popov, a three-time Cactus Tour titleist, went on to win the AIG Women’s Open winner at Royal Troon in the summer.
Speaking after her Kentucky Open win in July, Nishtha, 21, had said, “I work with a sports psychologist and he’s told me to look at every golf shot as an isolated event.
“Every time I hit a shot, I treat it as my first one of the day. That helped me stay concentrated and not led the lead get in my head at all.”
Also read: Nishtha Madan reels in second title with Cactus Tour win
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