By Rahul Banerji
Seher Atwal rounded off the season with a win just as she had done at the start of the year, producing the round of the week to steal the limelight from the battle behind her in Chennai on Friday.
The Delhi Golf Club player sank two birdies in the last three holes to win the 16th and final leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour at the Tamil Nadu Golf Federation’s Cosmo Golf Club with a 2 under par 68.
It was the first time in the week that the field was able to play the full 18 holes thanks to a break in the rain over the southern metropolis, the WGAI said
Behind the winner, Sneha Singh held her nerve superbly to share the runners-up cheque with Shweta Mansingh, relegating closest chaser Neha Tripathi to fourth place.
Tense stretch
A former national champion, Hyderabad’s Sneha had one birdie and eight pars in a tense back nine as Neha faltered – also on the way back – allowing the rankings leader to walk away with the Hero Order of Merit.
The first two rounds were reduced to nine holes each, so the tournament was decided over a total of 36 holes.
Seher with 36-37 in the first two rounds ended on 1 over 141 for 36 holes, the winner by two over Sneha (71) and Shweta (71), who just missed out on her first-ever win on the Tour.
Neha, who needed to finish ahead of Sneha and earn at least Rs. 27,793 more, ended the third round with a 73.
She was in contention for both the title and the Order of Merit till she arrived on the 16th tee. A double bogey followed by a bogey on the next hole dashed her hopes and saw her finish fourth.
Seher birdied the third and fifth holes but dropped a shot on the ninth to turn in 1-under.
On the way back she followed birdie with bogey on holes 11 and 12 and then bogeyed 15 but two birdies in the season’s final three holes helped close out the issue with a degree of comfort.
Sneha Singh had bogeys on five and nine but the crucial birdie on 12 and a string of pars thereafter helped save the day.
Giving ground
Neha would be disappointed after having started with two gains in her first three holes.
The back nine was in total contrast though as she dropped six shots in all, four bogeys and the double on 16. The 3 over par 73 also meant Neha would stay second in the final Order of Merit.
Seher finished third in the final rankings, with Khushi Khanijau and Tvesa Malik taking the fourth and fifth places.
In the actual event, Khushi Khanijau (75) was fifth, while Ridhima Dilawari (73) and Ananya Datar (76) were tied for sixth.
Snigdha Goswami (76) was eighth while Jasmine Shekar (73) and Durga Nittur (76) rounded off the top ten.
Also read: Khushi searches for first win of 2023 as Merit battle rages on
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