Chandigarh, November 18
Amateur Avani Prashanth underlined her superiority with a third straight under par score at 2-under 70 and completed a 13-shot win over the field in the 15th and the final leg of the Women’s Pro Golf (WPG) Tour at the Chandigarh Golf Club.
Avani, who has not played much on the WPG Tour this season as she was busy playing around the world, shot 68-66-70 for a total of 12-under 204. Avani had three of the five under par scores registered this week, while others came from the second placed Gaurika Bishnoi, who shot 70 on the second day. Seher Atwal had the best round of the final day with a 69 while finishing in a tie for fifth.
Avani had a sedate front nine after opening with a bogey. She then had nine pars in a row with many of the putts not dropping in. She finally found the birdies with back-to-back efforts on Par-3 11th and Par-4 12th. A bogey on Par-5 13th was a disappointment, but she quickly made up with birdies on the 15th and the 17th for 70.
India’s highest ranked amateur Avani’s win at Chandigarh follows her twin success on the WPG Tour in 2021 when she won the third and 11th legs of the WPGT.
While the week’s spotlight was Avani, she was followed by Gaurika, the top professional with a final round of 73. Gaurika had four birdies against three bogeys and a double bogey. She finished with a total of 1-over 217.
Sneha Singh (77-72-75) totalled 224, which was 20 shots behind the winner. Sneha tied with Lakhmehar Pardesi (73-75-76). Khushi Khanijau, who had a hole-in-one on the Par-3 eighth, carded 1-over 73 and was tied fifth with Seher Atwal (69) at 225, while Hitaashee Bakshi (74-76-77) was seventh at 227.
Four players – Saaniya Sharma (77-78-74), Rhea Jha (77-78-74), Afshan Fatima (79-75-75) and Jia Kataria (73-79-77) – were tied for 10th place.
Meanwhile, Pranavi Urs, who is playing at the LPGA Qualifying School this week in the United States, topped the Hero Order of Merit. Seher Atwal, who was third at the start of the week, finished in a tie for fifth this week and overtook Hitaashee Bakshi to finish second. Hitaashee was pushed to third on the Order of Merit. Gaurika Bishnoi and Ridhima Dilawari were fourth and fifth.
