Nishtha Madan claims maiden title at Kentucky Open

By Rahul Banerji

Delhi girl Nishtha Madan made it a start to finish run at Shepherdsville as she won the 24^th edition of the Kentucky Women’s Open with some ease on Wednesday.

It gave the 21 year old a 100% strike rate in Kentucky as her 12-under aggregate was enough for a three-shot win over amateurs Lauren Hartlage and Delaney Shah.

Going into the second and final day at the Heritage Hill Golf Club on Wednesday leading by three strokes after a first day 65, Nishtha rode out some strong challenges before coming through.

On the day, she had a final round 67 (-5) for a total of 132 (-12), good enough to win by three strokes over the field, the event website said and fetched Nishtha a $1,200 cheque.

Hot pursuit

Nishtha may have started with a three-shot buffer but it quickly evaporated when Hartlage made three birdies and an eagle in her first five holes to narrow the gap to one.

The Indian rookie was steady through her front nine, going out in one-under 35 but cricically, turned up the heat on her way back to the clubhouse with a four-under 32.

Hartlage briefly tied for the lead early on the back nine with consecutive birdies on the 12^th and 13^th, but dropped a shot immediately after.

For her part, Nishtha rattled off four birdies to grab control over the home stretch.

More heat

Joint runner-up Shah then turned up the heat, playing the back nine in 6-under 30 that saw her join Madan and Hartlage at the head of the leader-board.

The difference between the top three and the rest was evident in the 8-shot gap between the second placers and those sharing the fourth spot.

Final results

Nishtha was not sure where she would be playing next, the event website said, but was pleased at her overall performance and the way she had played at Shepherdsville.

“I work with a sports psychologist and he’s told me to look at every golf shot as an isolated event,” she said.

“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.

“I never looked at the leader-board throughout the round, but during the rain delay I saw how great Lauren had played and knew I just had to do more of the same to finish.

“My hope is that my next tournament will be in Arizona the first week of August, but I’m looking ahead to Q-School later this year and hoping I can get status on Tour as soon as 2022.”

The delays Nishtha was talking about first came a suspension of play mid-afternoon. Play resumed 90-odd minutes later but more lightning caused another halt before the round was resumed for the final time.

Also read: Nishta fires blistering opening round at Kentucky Open