Tvesa Malik out to make most of maiden ‘major’

By Rahul Banerji

She will be teeing off alongside many of the world’s best players in a couple of days, and for Tvesa Malik, every step of her sojourn in Britain has been a learning curve.

Last week, the 24-year-old from Gurgaon made sure she was a part of the weekend action at the Ladies Scottish Open and would have picked up invaluable experience of links golf over the four days.

Tvesa will now join Ladies European Tour regulars Aditi Ashok and Diksha Dagar in this week’s AIG Women’s Open in what is a tournament of several first.

These include amongst others, the first time three Indian golfers are in the line-up for any major, women or men.

Another first

It is also the first time the British Women’s Open is being played at the prestigious Royal Troon course that in one form or another dates back to 1878.

“I’ve been practising low shots and I’ve been working on being able to move the ball against the wind, which seems very important,” Tvesa told the LET website.

“I’ve done lots of chipping, practising bump-and-runs which I never use any other week.”  

Last year, Tvesa had a solid sixth place finish to her Hero Women’s Indian Open campaign, finishing a shot behind amateur Anika Varma.

Helping Tvesa’s cause greatly at the Ayrshire course near Glasgow as it did in North Berwick last week is the fact that LET member Kiran Matharu will be on the bag.

Helpful presence

“Kiran is from Leeds and knows a lot about playing in Scotland in the wind,” Tvesa said.

“She helped me a lot at the Renaissance Golf Club about understanding the golf course and picking the right shot.”

In all, 144 of the world’s top golfers will line up for the event, looking to emulate former champions including Laura Davies, Annika Sörenstam, Catriona Matthew, Georgia Hall and most recently, Hinako Shibuno, the LET noted.  

“Royal Troon offers that special chance and, as the first women’s major to ever be played at the prestigious venue, this week feels more unique than ever.

“Also, there will again be no spectators lining the fairways – in what is fast-becoming the ‘new norm’ for golf,” it added.

Royal Troon hosted The Open in 2016 last with Sweden’s Henrik Stenson emerging winner.

Shibuno, the “Smiling Cinderella” from Japan equally charmed and stunned the golfing world with her victory at Woburn with her maiden appearance outside her home country.

Said Shibuno, 21, “I am so glad to be able to defend my title at the AIG Women’s Open.

“ I think it will be a very special feeling to return as the defending champion and I am looking forward to the experience very much.

“I am excited to play at Royal Troon where so many Open Championships have been held and I hope my game will match up to the challenges presented by this famous links course.”

In the fray at the $4.5 million event will be 20 major winners, 37 Solheim Cup stars and eight past champions.

Nine LET members from seven countries make their debut in the championship, with Sweden’s Joanna Gustavsson heading the qualifiers last week at The Renaissance Golf Club that included Tvesa.

The list of debutants

First Name	Surname	Country
Gemma	Dryburgh	SCO
Eleanor	Givens	ENG
Johanna	Gustavsson	SWE
Stephanie	Kyriacou	AUS
Tvesa	Malik	IND
Emma	Nilsson	SWE
Sanna	Nuutinen	FIN
Monique	Smit	RSA
Michele	Thomson	SCO

Also read: Aditi, Diksha, Tvesa make first-time Indian trio at LPGA event