Gurugram, March 7 Vani Kapoor played a perfect back-nine with one birdie and eight pars to card 1-under 71 and register a comfortable three-shot win over Ridhima Dilawari (70) and Rhea Jha (73) in the fifth leg of the Women’s Pro Golf Tour at the Classic Golf & Country Club here on Friday.
It was the experienced Vani’s second straight win, having won the fourth leg last month. One of the most successful players in the history of the Women’s Pro Golf Tour, Vani held at least a share of the lead since Day 1.
The DLF golfer was the sole leader after the first round and then shared the lead after 36 holes with Amandeep Drall and finally cruised to a fine victory at the end of the week. Vani had rounds of 70-75-71 for an even-par 216 over 54 holes, and she was three shots clear of Ridhima (76-73-70) and Rhea (74-72-73).
Vani, who was in a share of the lead with Amandeep at the start, fell back with a bogey on the first. She recovered with birdies on the third and the sixth, and despite dropping a shot on the Par-5 ninth, she was the favourite to add to her tally of titles.
Amandeep and Rhea Jha, who was the third player in the lead group, were both 2-over for the front nine with two bogeys each against no birdies. Ridhima, with a string of seven pars followed by birdies on the eighth and the ninth, did make a bid, but she had just one bogey and one birdie on the 18th on the backstretch, which was not enough.
Rhea put herself out of the running with three bogeys in the first 11 holes, and even the two birdies on the 15th and the 17th were not enough to make a run for a maiden title. Amandeep continued to struggle with consistency as she had only three bogeys and no birdies in a round of 75, and she was tied for fourth with Neha Tripathi.
Neha had four each of birdies and bogeys in a 72 that saw her tie for fourth place with overnight co-leader Amandeep (71-74-75) at 4-over 220. Four players, including Sneha Singh (77-75-70), who won the second and third Legs, Kriti Chowhan (78-75-69), Yaalisai Verma (77-72-73), and amateur Ceerat Kang (76-72-74), were tied for sixth place at 6-over 222. Kriti’s 3-under 69 on the final day was also the best card of the week.
Lavanya Jadon, Durga Nittur, and Gauri Karhade were tied for the tenth place. Sneha Singh, despite a T-6 finish, stayed on top of the Hero Order of Merit, while Vani Kapoor moved to a close second. Sneha has earnings of Rs. 6,65,567, while Vani has accumulated Rs. 6,54,000, and Amandeep Drall (Rs. 3,95,300) and Kriti Chowhan (Rs. 3,92,934) are locked in a battle for the third place.
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