Dramatic final day hands Ridhima first win of 2020 as Pravavi misses out

By Rahul Banerji

It was so near, yet so far for Pranavi Urs as Ridhima Dilawari held her nerve at a critical stage to win the opening event of the 2020 Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour at the Poona Club Golf Course on Friday.

Ridhima, winner of five titles in 2019, and amateur Pranavi Urs battled all the way down the final stretch before the professional prevailed at the very end of the third and final round by a shot.

Ridhima led for a good part of the day only to lose the lead towards the end before Pranavi made a crippling triple bogey on 18^thto drop to second.

Ridhima (74) finished on 1-under 215, while Pranavi (73) was level par 216.

Amandeep Drall (77) took third place, and Diksha Dagar (72) was tied for fourth with Vani Kapoor (74).

Afshan Fatima (75), Saaniya Sharma (74) and Jyotsana Singh (74) were sixth, seventh and eighth respectively. Siddhi Kapoor (74) and Sonam Chugh (75) completed the top ten.

Holding advantage

Ridhima, starting the day with a two-shot advantage over playing partner Pranavi, had two early birdies to extend her lead. She and Pranavi exchanged bogeys before making the turn, at which point Ridhima was sitting pretty with a three-shot lead over Pranavi.

Then a series of disasters struck Ridhima with four dropped shots between the 11^th and 17^th holes. Pranavi reduced the gap with two early birdies and with seven holes to go, the two were tied at 1-under and it was anybody’s game.

When Pranavi bogeyed the 13^th, Ridhima went ahead with par. Then came the crucial 15^th, which Pranavi birdied but Ridhima bogeyed for a two-shot swing. The amateur was now one ahead as the kept pendulum swinging from one end to the other.

Ridhima bogeyed again on 16^thand 17^th while Pranavi bogeyed 17^th. When the two came to the Par-5 18^th, Pranavi held a two-shot lead and even a bogey would have given her the title.

Fatal error

Instead, she found the water and then in tension she three-putted, adding up to a triple bogey eight and Ridhima from two behind, finished one ahead for her first title of 2020.

“It was unfortunate that Pranavi made the mistake on the 18^th. Till then she was playing well. But before that I missed three times for three bogeys in a row as I fell behind after being in the lead,” said Ridhima.

“I worked on my swing and putting with my coach Romit Bose in the off season,” said Ridhima, who is now headed to China to play in the Qualifying School for the China Ladies PGA Tour.

“I will miss the next event, but this win will be a good confidence booster for me,” she added.

With this win, Ridhima has taken the early lead in the Hero Order of Merit with Rs. 1,40,000 while Amandeep Drall received Rs.1,00,000. Diksha and Vani took home Rs.81,000 each.

The second leg of the Tour will be held at the Bombay Presidency Golf Club in Mumbai from January 15.

Also read: Pranavi, Ridhima share Leg 1 lead of Hero WPGT in Pune