Tvesa Malik managed to stay afloat and keep her nerves as she overcame an over-par round and won the sixth leg of the Women's Pro Golf Tour by two strokes at the Rambagh Golf Club.
The bubbly Gurgaon golfer, Tvesa also ended an 18-month winless drought dating back to 2019, a season in which she won three times. Tvesa, leading by three shots when the final round began, was 2-over after the first four holes but managed to hang in with a birdie on 17th as the leaders started on the back nine.
Jahanvi Bakshi gave Tvesa a run for her money as she came within a shot of the leader with birdies on the first and second. Tvesa and Jahanvi bogeyed the Par-4 third hole and the gap of one stayed as both players parred from fourth to seventh. When Jahanvi bogeyed the Par-5 eighth, Tvesa pulled two ahead with a par. A par from both on ninth, the closing hole, ended the race in Tvesa's favour.
Tvesa shot 2-over 72 for 1-under 209 as Jahanvi carded 1-over 71 for 1-over 211. Tvesa's last win was in September 2019, while Jahanvi won last week.
Tvesa was happy with the win but felt her game could have been better. She said, "The game has been good and I have been feeling good about my game so far this year. Obviously, I had a couple of rounds that have been off but overall games has felt good. Every week has felt like it should have been better and it had a potential to be a lot better. I feel like it's been games in trending in the right direction."
"I still think there is a long way to go for my putting. I think I just need work to do but I am still happy with the week even though I know today was not as good as I would have wanted to be. I would have liked to win on a better note. I think it was a tricky day out there, not just for me but for everybody," she added.
Amateur Kriti Chowhan showed her familiarity at the Rambagh course with the day's best card of 1-under 69 to finish third. She had four birdies against three bogeys.
Hitaashee Bakshi (71) was fourth and Amandeep Drall (72) was fifth, but managed to stay atop the Hero Order of Merit, which is being combined for 2020 and 2021.
Ridhima Dilawari (77) was sixth, V Kapoor (73) was seventh, amateur Av Prashant (77) was eighth while Ananya Datar (75) and Seher Atwal (76) completed the top-10.
( With inputs from ANI )
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