Vidhatri Urs with her trophy and cheque after winning the Zion Hills leg of the Hero WPGT in a playoff from overnight leader Ridhima Dilawari on Friday. Image courtesy WGAI.
By Rahul Banerji
Event leader Ridhima Dilawari faltered at the finish to drop into a play-off, losing to Vidhatri Urs in leg 10 of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour at Zion Hills near Bangalore on Friday.
Vidhatri (73) and Ridhima (75) were tied on 2 under par 214 in regulation with the latter double-bogeying the 18th hole to create the shootout, the WGAI said.
The Mysore golfer edged out Ridhima on the first extra hole for her first title of the season and end a 21-month drought after last winning at the Delhi Golf Club in September 2024.
Vidhatri, who played in the second from last group with Vani Kapoor (74), was in trouble early with two bogeys before the turn.
She rallied on the inbound nine with back-to-back birdies before giving back a shot to set the clubhouse target and wait for the final pairing of Ridhima and Amandeep Drall.
Ridhima who started the day two clear of the field was shaky with two dropped shots in her outbound nine.
The leader by two strokes after the second round seemed to have sealed the win with birdies on holes 13 and 15 to regain the lead from Vidhatri.
Crucial twist
A bogey on 16tightened the race before the double on the Par-5 18th hole saw Ridhima finish level with Vidhatri’s total when even a bogey would have sufficed for the win.
Vani (74) was also in contention till the 12th hole at which point she was 1-under for the day and 3-under for the tournament.
A double bogey on 13 and birdie on 16 gave the ninth leg winner another opening but a bogey-bogey finish ended her hopes and saw Vani finish third at even par 216.
Amandeep also had a rough final round with a 4 over 76 that included five bogeys and a double against three birdies. She finished sole fourth at 1 over 217.
Saanvi Somu (74) was fifth on 2 over 218 and Anvvi Dahhiya (70), one of the only two players to shoot under par, was sixth on 3 over 219.
Jasmine Shekar (74) and Kashika Misra (78) shared seventh place while Anvitha Narender (75), Ananya Datar (75) and Mannat Brar (77) were tied for ninth at 8-over.
Amateur Alysha Dutt (70) who shot one of the two sub-par scores of the day was tied 12th with Riya Jadon (77).
Ridhima continues to lead the Hero Order of Merit with Rs. 13,00,667 while Jasmine is second with Rs. 10,82,333 and Amandeep third with Rs. 10,18,333.
Vani (Rs. 10,06,000) and Vidhatri (Rs. 8,22,166) are in fourth and fifth place.
Of the 10 events held so far, Ridhima has won thrice while seven others each have one win.
Also read: Ridhima Dilawari stretches Zion Hills advantage to two strokes
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