Tvesa signals timely return to form with HWIO around the corner

By Rahul Banerji

Tvesa Malik continued her late-season resurgence with a second win in her last three starts ,at the DLF Golf & Country Club on Thursday.

Having started the 13^th leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour in flying fashion, Tvesa closed it out in similar fashion at her home course, winning by a whopping eight shots despite a 1 over 73 on the day.

The result was the 28-year-old’s third straight top-two placing and came from a 4-under par 212 total built on rounds of 65, 74 and 73.

Jasmine Shekar (73), Neha Tripathi (74), and Khushi Khanijau (75) shared second place on 4-over 220s, underlining the distance between the winner and the rest.

Margin trimmed

Tvesa, who has been dividing her time between the domestic circuit and Ladies European Tour could have won by an even bigger margin but for a closing double bogey.

The day’s only sub par round came from Asmitha Sathish, who at 1-under 71 finished tied for fifth alongside overnight second placed Ananya Datar, who had a rough day with an 8-over 80.

Tvesa began the final day with a three-shot lead but her closest rivals were unable to make a decisive move. As the round progressed, Ananya, Neha and Khushi all dropped shots at crucial times.

The DLF golfer swapped bogey for birdie on the front nine and picked up a second shot three holes from the enc and could also afford the luxury of a closing double bogey thanks to her lead.

Jasmine had four birdies, all on the back nine, with three bogeys and a double, while Neha, herself a form player, had one birdie and three bogeys.

Khushi had one birdie and four bogeys, while Ananya collapsed with six bogeys and a double and no birdies.

Good omen

Tvesa’s win and Neha’s recent form both augur well for the Hero Women’s Indian Open next month at the same course.

Pranavi Urs, who soon leaves for the Asian Games in China, shot her best card of the week at 72 and was seventh at 223, while Agrima Manral (74) was eighth at 225.

Smriti Bhargava, who has been part of the Indian Golf Union’s amateur teams to international events, was eighth with a final round of 74 and a total of 230.

Kriti Chowhan rounded off the top 10 with a card of 81.

Order of Merit leader Sneha Singh (76) had another disappointing week with a tied 11th-place finish alongside Seher Atwal on 16 over 232.

Sneha though continues to lead the Hero OOM while Neha stays second with Khushi third. Tvesa, OoM winner in 2018, moves up to fourth.

Leg 14 of the WPGT, the last event on the domestic tour before the Hero Women’s Indian Open, will be played at the Delhi Golf Club next week.

Also read: Ananya Datar cuts Tvesa’s lead to half at Hero WPGT 13th leg