Vidhatri leads Karnataka sweep at Golfshire WPGT event

By Rahul Banerji

Runaway leader Vidhatri Urs shot a solid 4 under 68 to carve out one of the biggest wins in the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour at Prestige Golfshire near Bangalore on Friday.

Vidhatri totalled 16-under 200 with rounds of 65, 67 and 68 and won by 13 shots over her state-mates, amateur Saanvi Somu (71) and rookie pro Jasmine Shekar who shot a final round of 70.

Vidhatri’s total of 16-under tied the second-best total under on the tour alongside that of Vani Kapoor at Eagleton in 2016 and Neha Tripathi on the Classic course in 2018.

The all-time best total to par is by Kiran Matharu, who won with a 17-under on the Classic track in 2015.

Sneha Singh (71), winner as an amateur last year before turning pro, and Neha Tripathi (68) tied for fourth on 1-under 215s.

Starting the day with a nine-shot lead, Vidhatri’s win was never in doubt. It was only a question of how big the margin would be.

Finishing flourish

Vidhatri birdied early to turn in two-under and added mixed three with her only blemish of the day, closing with a flourish with a birdie. Her card of 68 was one of three recorded on the final day.

Jasmine Shekar playing in the second last group turned in one over but on the back nine she picked three birdies in a row and parred the rest for a 70.

Playing in the final group alongside Vidhatri and Kriti Chowhan (78), Saanvi dropped two early shots but bounced back immediately with a birdie.

Seven pars in a row followed before she picked up three shots on the back nine.

A final bogey on 17 proved costly as Saanvi dropped a shot on 17th which saw her drop from sole second into a tie with Jasmine.

Last week ago, Saanvi was tenth at Clover Greens.

Neha had five birdies against one bogey and was tied fourth with Sneha who had three birdies and two bogeys.

Sachika Singh (74) was sixth, while last week’s runner-up Keerthana Rajeev (68) was tied seventh with Shweta Mansingh (71) and Jyotsana Singh (72).

Khushi Khanijau (71) was tenth.

Amateur time

Vidhatri is the first amateur winner this season, though Keerthana Rajeev finished second last week. It has been a good two weeks for amateurs, as the ninth leg had three amateurs in the top seven.

It was a repeat of last week with Keerthana Rajeev second and Ayushi Dutta and Anvitha Narender tied for seventh place.

Interestingly, the last amateur to win on the Tour, Avani Prashanth, had also secured a 13-shot win in the final leg of the 2022 season at Chandigarh.

Last year Sneha and Avani were two amateur winners on the Tour, and Avani is likely to turn pro later this season,

Sneha has already done so and won twice this year. Her tied fourth place saw her climb to the top of the Hero Order of Merit, displacing Seher Atwal, who slipped to tied 14th on the day with a closing 79.

Also read: Vidhatri stretches lead to nine shots in 9th leg of Hero WPG Tour