Ridhima takes her chances to seal season’s fifth title

By Rahul Banerji

Ridhima Dilawari held her nerve when it most mattered to get the better of Diksha Dagar in a titanic battle down the back stretch and seal her fifth title of the season in the last tournament of the year in Kolkata on Friday.

The win at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club also gave the women’s pro golf tour’s form player second place in the Order of Merit and capped a season where she was far and away the most prolific golfer on the circuit.

Coming into the final day, Ridhima trailed Diksha by three shots but she hung tough when it mattered most, reeling off three birdies between the 12^th and 15^th holes and then parred the rest for a 2-under 70 card.

Ridhima totalled 1-under 215 while Dagar (74) was second a shot behind.

The win took Ridhima to second place on the Hero Women’s Order of Merit, which was won by Gaurika Bishnoi, who topped the honours despite having to miss the final event.

Ridhima totalled Rs.11,09433 while Gaurika had Rs.11,84,100. Amandeep Drall was third with Rs.10,55,933. They were the only ones to cross the Rs.10 lakh mark for the year.

Losing out

Diksha, who had an error-filled round, actually started with birdies on the first and fourth holes.

She then faltered with a double bogey and another bogey before making the turn. At that stage Diksha was still two shots ahead of Ridhima, who turned in even par as against Diksha’s one-over.

On the back nine, the duo bogeyed the 10^th. Ridhima birdied the 11^th to reduce the lead to one. The drama continued as both parred 12and 13and then both birdied 14and 15. Two more pars each brought them to the 18^thtee, where Diksha still held a one-shot lead.

Calm finish

But Diksha hit out of bounds on the left side, while Ridhima parred out. The second double bogey of the final day saw Dagar drop from one ahead to one behind and handed Ridhima the title.

Ridhima’s fifth success this season is the best since Vani Kapoor registered seven wins in 2016. 

Amateur Pranavi Urs shot a 3-over 75 and finished in a tie for third with Vani Kapoor (76), while Tvesa Malik (74) was fifth and Amandeep Drall (78) slipped to sixth at 12-over 228.

Astha Madan (70) had four birdies against two bogeys for the day’s best card but following 79-80 on the first two days, she was only tied seventh with Khushi Khanijau (74).

Gauri Karhade (76), who had one win in her rookie season, was ninth and Thailand’s P. Supakchaya (80) was tenth.

With Gaurika, Ridhima and Amandeep taking the top three places on the Order of Merit, Neha Tripathi (Rs. 9,47,583), Gursimar Badwal (Rs.7,85,733) and Tvesa Malik (Rs.7,34, 334) finished in that order behind the top three.

Also read: Ridhima hunts fifth win as Hero WPGT final leg tees off in Kolkata