Smriti takes the honours
Smriti Mehra
Smriti Mehra produced a remarkable rally on the final day to win the second leg of the Hero-WGAI Women’s Pro Tour at Clover Greens in Bengaluru on Thursday. Smriti shot the week’s best four-under 66 to total 207, while Sharmila Nicolett (70) finished at 209. Nalini Singh Siwach (71) totalled 211 for third place.
Smriti, who turned 40 in May, started the day two behind and that deficit became four by the end of the first two holes as overnight leader Sharmila started the day with two birdies.
Smriti then using all her experience fought back, playing the last 16 holes in four-under despite two bogeys to emerge a convincing winner.
Neha Tripathi (71) was fourth at 214. Vani Kapoor played her best round of the week at two-under 68 and moved to tied fifth with Shraddhanjali Singh (72) at 220. Amateur Ankita Kedalya (69) totaled 216 and was the top amateur and overall she was fifth.
Smriti, a former LPGA Tour player who has also won on the Futures Tour in the US, said, “I played steady and the only two times I three-putted I had bogeys. Actually I did not look at the scores till the 18th green. I was just focusing on my play.”
Sharmila rued her poor short game as she said, “I chipped and putted badly. After the fine start with three birdies in a row nothing worked. I messed up a chip on the fourth and ended with a double and then nothing worked. Still the overall scores were alright, though I would have wanted to be under-par. And, Simi played great, so she deserved to win.”
Sharmila stays on top of the Money List as the opening event last week carried a purse of `10 lakh and this week it was `5 lakh.
The final day produced three sub-par rounds and another one at par, while two others had one-over on a good scoring day.
Leading scores after third and final round:
207: Smriti Mehra (69-72-66)
209: Sharmila Nicollet (71-68-70)
211: Nalini Singh Siwach (72-68-71)
214: Neha Tripathi (71-72-71)
216: Ankita Kedalya – A – (75-72-68)
220: Vani Kapoor (76-76-68) and Shraddhanjali Singh (74-74-72)
221: Saaniya Sharma (71-77-73)
225: Meghna Bal (71-80-74)
226: Ankita Tiwana (78-73-75)
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