By Rahul Banerji
Tvesa Malik ensured a third career top-10 finish on the Ladies European Tour with shared tenth-place at the Italian Open in Piedmont on Sunday.
In Denmark, Shubhankar Sharma capped in his best run on the European Tour in over a year and a half taking T8 at the Made in HimmerLand event.
Also at the Ladies Italian Open, Diksha Dagar was tied 43rd in her first European outing of the season after a spell on the sidelines with a back injury.
In fact, Tvesa (74-66-73) had a share of the lead before slipping away as French amateur Lucie Malchirad took the win with back-to-back birdies on the final two holes.
The 25-year-old from Gurgaon was 3-under par 213 at the wire alongside defending Women’s Indian Open champion Christine Wolf of Austria.
The 18-year-old Malchirand had a final round of level par 72 for her maiden LET victory at Golf Club Margara.
It gave her a one-shot cushion over Finland’s Ursula Wikstrom and England’s Gabriella Cowley, the LET website said.
Vintage performance
Malchirand was in only her second LET event, having finished T26 at the 2020 Lacoste Ladies Open De France, but she did well to hold on and become the first amateur to win the Ladies Italian Open.
“I’m still shaking from my last putt! It was an amazing day. I played up and down, I made bogeys and birdies and bogeys and birdies, so it was quite stressful, but it was really good,” she said later.
“On the back nine there are a lot of leader-boards, so I saw my name on top and then going down and then back on top. I thought to myself I need to do my best, but I finally did it and it’s amazing!”
Scotland’s Michele Thomson set the early clubhouse lead posting a 67 to leave her at 5-under-par 211 for the tournament.
Finland’s Ursula Wikstrom then eagled 18 for a final round of 68 to sit a shot ahead of Thomson.
Malchirand’s caught the lead group with birdie on 17 and then rolled in another one on 18 to close out ahead of Wikstrom and England’s Gabriella Cowley.
Diksha had cards of 74, 73 and level-par 72 at the Golf Club Margara.
Solid finish for Shubhankar
In Denmark, Shubhankar Sharma carded his third successive round in the 60s as defending champion Bernd Wiesberger spread-eagled the field on Sunday.
The Austrian led from wire to wire and sank eight birdies on his way to a dominant win on 21-under 263, five shots better than runner-up Guido Migliozzi of Italy.
It was Shubhankar’s first top-10 of the season and his best since the Turkish Airlines Open in Antalya in November of 2019.
His previous top finish was a tied 34th at the British Masters two weeks ago where Migliozzi incidentally finished second as well, behind first-time winner Richard Bland of England,
In the running
Sharma will next play the Porsche European Open in Hamburg where a top-5 finish would bring him into contention for a slot at the US Open at Torrey Pines in mid-June.
According to Dubai-based golf writer Joy Chakravarty, Sharma is currently 17th on the qualifying list and needs o finish inside the top seven in Germany for the US Open berth.
The European Tour website meanwhile said Wiesberger led after every round on his way to an eighth tour title.
“This week really clicked for me, had a couple of good breaks on the way as well,” he said later.
Migliozzi’s runner-up finish was his second in as many events after he also finished second at the British Masters and his third overall this season.
“I have been playing very good the past few weeks,” he said.
“I just controlled my game better today because I have a few mistakes over the last few days, but today me and my caddie worked well and it has been a great day of golf.
Also read: Tvesa rides rough greens in steady SA Women’s Open start
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