By Rahul Banerji
Tvesa Malik ended an 18-month title drought with a roller-coaster ride to victory at the Rambagh Golf Club in Jaipur on Friday.
The bubby Gurgaon golfer had to steady herself throughout the final round to hold off the charging Jahnavi Bakshi before she came home by two shots.
Tvesa’s first win since September 2019 on Friday was built on an overnight three-shot lead, and one badly-needed birdie.
Though she finished on 2-over par 72, Tveas’s three-day aggregate of 1-under 209 was two better than Jahnavi’s final tally.
The final day of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour’s sixth leg saw plenty of drama with Janhavi closing to within one shot of the leader before falling back at a critical stage.
Tvesa, leader by three when the final round began, was 2-over after the first four holes but managed to hang in with a birdie on 17 as the leaders started on the back nine.
Close one
Jahanvi gave Tvesa a run for her money with birdies on the first and second holes as they started the second nine.
Both bogeyed the par-4 third and the gap of one stayed that way with pars till the seventh.
When Jahanvi bogeyed the Par-5 eighth, it gave Tvesa a two-shot cushion and with both sinking pars on the final hole, it would stay that way.
Tvesa’s last win was in September 2019 when she won thrice, while Jahanvi won last week.
Tvesa was happy with the win, but felt her game could have been better.
“I have been feeling good about my game so far this year.
“Obviously, I had a couple of rounds that have been off but overall, the game has felt good.
“Every week has felt like it should have been better and it had the potential to be a lot better.
Small changes
“I’ve been making small changes, working a lot on my scoring and trying to be able to convert lot more. On the days when its good it shows but some work still needs to be done.”
“Still think there’s a long way to go for my putting, but I’m still happy with the week even though I know today was not as good as I would have wanted to be.
“I would have liked to win on a better note. It was tricky day out there, not just for me but for everybody.
“I’m just going to keep this in mind going forward from here and hopefully just work on a few more things and get everything in order before the season in Europe starts.”
Amateur Kriti Chowhan used her familiarity at the Rambagh course with the day’s best card of 1-under 69 to finish third.
She had four birdies against three bogeys.
Hitaashee Bakshi (71) was fourth and Amandeep Drall (72) was fifth, but stayed atop the Order of Merit, which is being combined for 2020 and 2021.
Ridhima Dilawari (77) was sixth, Vani Kapoor (73) seventh, amateur Avani Prashant (77) eighth while Ananya Datar (75) and Seher Atwal (76) completed the Top-10.
Also read: Tvesa Malik finds form and event lead at Rambagh GC
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