Nagoya Asiad gold medallist Pranavi Urs in action during the final round of the Wistron Ladies Open in Chinese Taipei on Sunday. Image courtesy LET.
By Rahul Banerji
South Africa’s Casandra Alexander won the Wistron Ladies Open by three strokes at Sunrise Golf and Country Club in Taipei on Sunday with Pranavi Urs finishing inside the top 20.
Asian Games gold medallist Pranavi returned scores of 70, 68, 73 and 68 to share 17th place at 9 under par 279 in the Ladies European Tour’s third from last event of the season.
The finish lifted the Mysore golfer to 32nd place on the Order of Merit as the second-best placed Indian behind Diksha Dagar (18th).
Alexander, who also sealed top spot on the Tour’s merit list for the year, shot a closing bogey-free 8 under par 64 to total 21 under 267 following prior rounds of 71, 68 and 64.
It was Alexander’s fourth LET title and her third win of the season in five starts besides the KPMG Women’s Irish Open and Buccellati Ladies Italian Open in 2026.
“That victory solidifies the Order of Merit, I know I’ve kept it on the down low,” the South African said on the LET website.
Driving desire
“Going into today’s round, I knew I didn’t have to win, and I wanted to make that clear to myself that I didn’t have to, but I really wanted to.”
On her Sunday performance Alexander added, “That was pretty spectacular, that’s the most comfortable I have felt in a final round.
“I wouldn’t say I hit it unbelievable today either, but I just walked off and signed for an eight-under. I made birdies where I needed to and I made some clutch pars.
“Pretty spectacular and pretty special. I’m upset that my husband is not here, but that’s alright!”
Alexander rolled in birdies on the third, sixth, ninth, 10th, 16th and 18th holes besides an eagle on the par-5 13th.
“We got the result we wanted. I probably would not have a pinched neck on Friday morning, it would have helped me out a little bit, but we still got the job done,” the world number 27 added.
“I’m pretty chuffed with the work that I’ve done with my team.
Hard work
“A lot of people see the wins like this, but they don’t see the hard work that gets put in behind the scenes.
“My coach Grant Veenstra has been at home grafting with me, it’s a team effort and it’s a team win. It’s really nice to get it over the line for them.
Hannah Screen of England was solo second, her best result on the LET, after a final round of 6 under 66 on 18 under 270.
Taipei’s Pei-Ying Tsai and Mimi Rhodes of England tied for third on 17 under while home star Ching Huang was fifth on 15 under with compatriot Cheng-Hsuan Shih one shot further back in sixth.
Spain’s Ana Pelaez Trivino and Chinese Taipei’s Phoebe Yao shared seventh place on 13 under 275 with England’s Alice Hewson in ninth after a final day 67 (-5).
Hong Kong’s Ginnie Ding and Thailand’s Cholcheva Wongras rounded out the top 10 on 11 under 277.
Behind Alexander (3,456.48 points) in the standings are Canada’s Anna Huang in second place, Australia’s Kelsey Bennett third, Germany’s Alexandra Försterling fourth and France’s Agathe Laisné fifth.
Next up on the LET’s schedule is the Aramco China Championship at Mission Hills from November 5 to 8.
Also read: Pranavi nets pioneering Asiad gold as India equal 1982 haul
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