Gaurika clinches maiden title

Saaniya Sharma finishes second with a total score of 222 after overnight leader Trisha Sunil struggles with the conditions.

Gaurika Bishnoi made the most of the conditions in Kolkata to bag her maiden title.

Gaurika Bishnoi carded one-under 71 on the final day to clinch her maiden title in the third leg of the Hero Women’s Professional Golf Tour at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club here on Friday.

Finishing in second position was Saaniya Sharma with a total score of 222 at the Rs 6,00,000 event.

Gurgaon’s Gaurika had a steady start, carding birdies on the 4th and 9th holes while dropping a shot on the 5th in her front nine.

Sensing victory, she played with caution in the latter half, carding a birdie and a bogey apiece on the 14th and 17th holes to claim her maiden title since turning professional, with a total score of 218 after 54 holes. Chandigarh’s Saaniya had a good start, carding a birdie on the very first hole. She went on to card another birdie on the 5th hole while dropping a shot on the 2nd on her way out.

She played a more controlled back nine, carding birdies on the 12th, 15th and 16th holes while dropping a shot on the 14th to finish the round with a score of three under 69 and take the runners up position.

New Delhi’s Mehar Atwal and Bengaluru’s Trisha Sunil were tied third with identical scores of 228 after the third round.

Mehar started her round with a birdie on the 2nd hole, but struggled to stitch together a series of consistent shots, carding bogeys on the 3rd, 7th, 11th, 13th and 15th holes.

Her lone birdie on the way back came on the 16th hole.

Overnight leader Trisha Sunil, who grabbed eyeballs with her impressive second round performance, struggled with the conditions, carding a birdie less round with a double bogey on the very first hole.

She went on to make a string of errors dropping shots on the 3rd, 4th, 6th, 7th, 9th, 13th, 14th, 15th and 17th holes, finishing her round with a score of 11 over 83.

Neha Tripathi had an unusual day, carding a birdie less round. She dropped shots on the 2nd, 7th, 9th, 10th, 13th, 14th and 18th holes to finish in fifth position with a total score of 229.

She was followed by Kolkata’s Smriti Mehra in sixth position with a score of 231 and Kapurthala’s Gursimar Badwal in seventh with a total score of 232 after 54 holes.

The Tour now moves to the Tollygunge Club for the fourth leg of the season to be played from February 20th to 23rd.