Tvesa Malik grabs a Top-10 finish in Aramco Series; Varma finishes inside top-10 in Abu Dhabi

Tvesa, who was bogey free in her round of 67 on the second day had five birdies against one bogey for 68 in the third and final round.

FILE PHOTO: Malik finished with a creditable 10-under 206 in the individual segment. However, her team finished T-18.

Indian golfer Tvesa Malik carded a fine three-under 68 in the final round to finish tied 10th in the individual segment of the Aramco Team Series Jeddah, her first top-10 finish after more than three months.

Malik finished with a creditable 10-under 206 in the individual segment. However, her team finished T-18.

Diksha Dagar, part of the winning team in the Aramco series event in London, was T-38 with rounds of 68-73-72.

Tvesa, who was bogey free in her round of 67 on the second day had five birdies against one bogey for 68 in the third and final round.

Team Pedersen claimed victory at the Aramco Team Series – Jeddah after they beat Team Lydia Hall in a two-hole playoff at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club.

The quartet of Emily Kristine Pedersen, Hannah Burke, Krista Bakker and amateur Ahmed Al Subaey began the day five shots behind the overnight leaders and produced a final round of -18 to reach a total of 51-under-par.

With the floodlights turned on in Jeddah, captain Pedersen headed back down to the 18th to compete in a playoff against Lydia Hall, with an eagle on the second playoff hole for the Dane ensuring she won the Team event for the second successive year.

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It was a second LET title for England's Burke, with her last coming back in 2015 at the Tipsport Golf Masters in the Czech Republic, while it was a first for Finland’s Bakker.

But it was on holes one to nine where they picked up momentum, with the quartet of Lydia Hall, Becky Brewerton, Luiza Altmann and amateur Victor Green – a former NFL player – coming in 10-under in their final six holes to also be 51-under-par.

Slovenia's Pia Babnik secured the Aramco Team Series – Jeddah individual title with a birdie on 18 sealing the victory on 16-under-par.

The 17-year-old fired rounds of 70, 65 and 65 to clinch her second LET title of the year while Team Babnik finished third on 50-under-par.

Germany's Olivia Cowan ended the individual tournament in second place one shot back having found the water on the 18th hole with Hall and Carlota Ciganda finishing T3.

England's Georgia Hall was in fifth place on 12-under with four players T6 including 2021 Race to Costa del Sol champion Atthaya Thitikul, Dubai Moonlight Classic winner Bronte Law, 2021 AIG Women's Open champion Anna Nordqvist and England’s Gabriella Cowley.

India's Tvesa Malik, Australian Stephanie Kyriacou and Finland's Sanna Nuutinen rounded out the top ten on -10.

Anika Varma finishes inside top-10 in Abu Dhabi

Anika Varma on Saturday carded one-under 71 in the final round to become the first Indian to post a top-10 finish in the history of the Women's Amateur Asia-Pacific (WAAP) championship.

The 17-year-old Varma picked up three birdies against two bogeys in the final round to finish tied ninth in the premier regional tournament, which was won by Japan's Mizuko Hashimoto.

On Saturday at Abu Dhabi Golf Club's National course, the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) No.483 once again struggled with her putting, but she fought hard for a fourth consecutive sub-par round.

Her 10-under par 278 was six adrift of champion Hashimoto (16-under-par 272).

Thai duo of Kan Bunnabodee (66) and overnight leader Natthakritta Vongtaveelap (72), along with Australia's Kelsey Bennett (68), were tied second at 15-under-par 273.

Among other Indian players, Natalii Gupta (70), who is Dubai born and nominated for the tournament by the Emirates Golf Federation (EGF), finished tied 13th place at six-under par.

Bengaluru's Avani Prashanth improved her first three day's scores of 71 with a two-under par 70 to finish on five-under par 283 and in tied 16th place.

Sifat Sagoo (70) and Kriti Chowhan (69) were tied 25th and 34th respectively at three-under 285 and even-par 288 respectively.

A late bogey on the 17th hole saw Varma slip a bit and she could not repair the damage on the par-5 18th, where she had a birdie putt from eight feet.

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"My week's been filled with a lot of ups and downs. Some really good and amazing holes and some not so great. One of the highlights is that I only made three bogeys this week, which is pretty good," said the Sacramento, US-based player.

"It is really nice to make a top-10 finish. But the only way is going up from here. So, hopefully, it gets closer and closer to winning a tournament." Varma was most pleased with how she approached the game."

"It has been so good this week. I want to carry it on for my next few tournaments and keep the momentum going.

"If I can finish in the top-10 in such a big tournament, it means I do know how to play golf, I am pretty good at it, and I just need to trust myself while playing." In the inaugural WAAP in Singapore in 2018, none of the six Indian players could make it to the weekend, while three players advanced in Japan the year after.

Seher Atwal was the best placed at tied 28th. In comparison, five players made the cut this year, including Natalii Gupta, who was nominated by the hosts Emirates Golf Federation (EGF).

It was a wonderful finish for Gupta.

The 17-year-old, born and brought up in the UAE, said: "I had a blast this week. It was so much fun. I’m thankful to be here. Thankful to be given the opportunity to play this week. It was not the best finish today, but I had fun," she said.