By Rahul Banerji
Hyderabad amateur Sneha Singh made it a start-to-finish run in the seventh leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour at the Noida Golf Course on Friday.
The national women’s and junior champion dominated the first WPGT event after nine months to add a second pro tour title to her kitty, having won a first on home ground last year.
Sneha finished with a final day 2-over par 74 for a three-day aggregate of 1-over 217, four shots ahead of runner-up and fellow amateur Hunar Mittal of Chandigarh.
The 16-year-old had to overcome a difficult start and a potentially crippling triple bogey on the par-4 sixth hole but held her nerve over the closing stretch to win by a comfortable four shots.
Faldo India Series winner Hunar Mittal had the day’s best card, of level par 72 and a 5-over 331 aggregate.
Top pro
Amandeep Drall finished as the top professional with a final day 74 and a tie for second place with Hunar. She also took home the winner’s cheque.
Two top pros expected to make a bid for the title, Ridhima Dilawari (80) in T-12 and Diksha Dagar (81) in 15th place, just did not get going this week.
Both will be back in the fray next week for the eighth leg of the Tour at the DLF Golf and Country Club along with fellow international Tvesa Malik.
Sneha started the day with a one-shot lead but bogeyed the par-5 first hole.
She quickly made amends with birdie on the second, but a triple bogey on the most difficult hole on the Noida Golf Course, the sixth, threatened her title ambitions briefly.
Sneha bounced back again with a birdie on the par-4 seventh, another tricky hole at the NGC and added another on the par-3 10th.
Holding on
Despite bogeys on 11th and then 14th, the Hyderabad teenager held on with a birdie on 15th.
She was aided by the fact that Amandeep Drall had a rough front nine with four bogeys against just one birdie.
Vani Kapoor also had three bogeys and no birdies in the front nine. She managed only one birdie and then gave it away on the 18th.
Vani, who had begun the week with an encouraging 72, had her second successive 75 and at 6-over 222 she was tied fourth with Siddhi Kapoor who gave away six shots between the fifth and 12th holes.
Sehar Atwal (76) was sole sixth while Rhea Jha (74) and Saaniya Sharma (76) were tied seventh. Gursimar Badwal (77) and amateur Kriti Chowhan (76) were 10th.
Interestingly, two other amateurs, Avani Prashanth (79) and Nayanika Sanga (76) were 11th and T-12, as all five amateurs in the field finished strongly
Sneha, daughter of teaching pro Sanjay Singh, who is also her coach, has now won a pro title in two straight seasons.
She won the 11th leg of the 2019 season at the Hyderabad Golf Club, and the NGC success shows her increasing maturity as she held the lead on all three days and managed the pressure successfully.
Final scores (top 10)
217 Sneha Singh (A) (71-72-74)
221 Hunar Mittal (A) (73-76-72), Amandeep Drall (74-73-74)
222 Vani Kapoor (74-75-75), Siddhi Kapoor (73-71-78)
227 Seher Atwal (77-74-76)
228 Rhea Jha (79-75-74), Saaniya Sharma (74-78-76)
230 Gursimar Badwal (78-75-77)
231 Kriti Chowhan (A) (77-78-76).
Also read: Amateurs Sneha, Hunar grab spotlight on opening day at NGC
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