Nishtha Madan reels in second title with Cactus Tour win

By Rahul Banerji

Delhi’s Nishtha Madan took the second title of her budding professional career with a two-shot win at the Sun City South Golf Club in Sun City Arizona, on Sunday.

The Sacrament State graduate had rounds of 71, 70 and level par 72 for a 3-under 213 aggregate, two ahead of Olivia Benzin in a limited field.

Starting the day three shots clear of the field, the younger sister of Indian circuit regular Astha Madan held on despite a 1-under round from Benzin.

This was the 32^nd event on the subsidiary Cactus Tour that operates largely in Arizona and Nevada with an occasional event in California.

Good progress

Nishtha made her professional debut on the Cactus Tour in Scottsdale, Arizona, this May with a middling finish at an event won by Germany’s Sophia Popov.

Popov, a three-time Cactus Tour titleist, emerged surprise winner of the AIG Women’s Open winner at Royal Troon last month.  

Last week, Nishtha was runner-up behind fellow Noah Montgomery trainee Paige Lee at the Sundance Golf Club in Buckeye, Arizona.

Earlier she had finished eighth at a warm-up event at Troon North Monument course behind Haley Moore.

Speaking after her Kentucky Open win in July, Nishtha, 21, had said, “I work with a sports psychologist and he’s told me to look at every golf shot as an isolated event.

“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.”

DeChambeau makes his point

Also on Sunday at the US Open, Bryson DeChambeau hammered his way to a maiden major, winning by a six-shot margin ahead of overnight leader Matthew Wolff.

DeChambeau, who turned 27 earlier in the week, overpowered the par-7-, 7,477-yard Winged Foot Golf Club course to pick up a winner’s cheque of $2.25 million.

It was the only sub-par total in the field and the sole under-par closing round (3-under 67).

The winner had a 6-under aggregate 274 (69-68-70-67), while Wolff, 21 finished on level par 280 (66-74-65-75) after starting the final round with a two-shot lead.

Every other player finished with a par-plus total in Mamaroneck, New York, South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen taking third place with a 2-over total 282 (67-74-68-73).

In winning the US Open, DeChambeau became only the third after Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods to claim a rare treble that also includes the US Amateur and NCAA Championship.

Maiden major

It was DeChambeau’sfirst major championship victory in 16 attempts, and came in his 111^th PGA Tour start.

It also made him the fourth different winner of a major in this past season after Gary Woodland (2019 US Open), Shane Lowry (2019 Open Championship) and Collin Morikawa (2020 PGA Championship).

Speaking to his parents over a video link following the win, DeChambeau was in tears after muscling his way around a course that claimed some big names even before the cut including Woods and Phil Mickelson.

“I think I’m definitely changing the way people think about the game,” DeChambeau said later.

“Now, whether you can do it, that’s a whole different situation. There’s a lot of people that are going to be hitting it far.

“I’m not going to stop. Next week I’m going to be trying a 48-inch driver,” DeChambeau told pagtour.com

Also read: Nishtha Madan claims maiden title at Kentucky Open