Palma (Spain), Nov 18 (PTI) India’s Avani Prashanth fought back twice from two bogeys to grab birdies and finally finished even par to be placed tied ninth after the second round at the inaugural Mallorca Ladies Golf Open here.
With her first round 69 and a 72 in the second, she was 3-under for 36-holes and stayed in the Top-10.
Avani will be turning professional at the end of the year after the LET’s Final Stage of the Qualifying School but smilingly said she would rather win this week and avoid the School.
Her senior colleague, Diksha Dagar, bidding to become the first Indian to win the LET’s Order of Merit, also played even par after a first round 71. Diksha, currently second on the Race to Costa Del Sol, is 1-under and T-18.
Welsh golfer Chloe Williams carded a second round of seven-under-par 65 to take a one-stroke lead into the final round.
The 28-year-old, looking for her first win on the LET, made nine birdies and two bogeys moving ahead of Germany’s Alexandra Forsterling, who shot a five-under-par 67.
First-round leader Kristyna Napoleaova carded a level par 72 and lies in third position.
For the second time in two days, Avani began horribly with two bogeys in first three holes, but rallied with back-to-back bogeys on sixth and seventh. She again dropped shots on 10th and the 15th, only to fight back again with birdies on 16th and 17th.
“I stayed focussed and was determined to fight back,” said Avani, who this year has had two Top-10 finishes on LET events and won a LET Access Series event while being an amateur.
Diksha (71-72), starting from the 10th alongside Trichat Cheenglab (72-69) and Johanna Gustavsson (77-72), ran into early trouble with three bogeys in first five holes.
She fought back with a birdie on 16th but gave that back on the 18th as she turned in 3-over.
She continued to fight on the second nine and birdies on second, sixth and seventh with no dropped shots saw her finish even par and in Top-20.
Both Forsterling and Napoleaova have won LET titles this year, in the VP Bank Swiss Ladies Open and Amundi German Masters respectively.
Forsterling’s round included eight birdies and two bogeys. Napoleova had to fight for her 72.
South African Lee-Anne Pace and Marta Sanz Barrio from Spain are tied for fourth place on five-under-par, with five further players on four-under-par — Trichat Cheenglab, Avani Prashanth, Caroline Hedwall, Anne Van Dam and Jana Melichova.
With the Race to Costa del Sol set to reach an exciting conclusion at the Andalucia Costa del Sol Open de España in Marbella next week, the top 70 players will retain their cards for 2024.
Source: PTI News
