Manila, Feb 22 (PTI) Avani Prashanth shot 5-under for the last four holes as she produced a sensational finishing stretch to get to the top of the individual standings and also put India into contention for their first Queen Sirikit Cup victory.
With a series of brilliant shots, the 16-year-old Prashanth, who recently broke into Top-100 of world amateur rankings, carded 6-under 66 to add to her first round 4-under 68 and moved to 10-under for a seven-shot lead after two rounds at the Manila Southwoods Golf and Country Club’s Masters Course.
The highlight of the round was an eagle-two at the 16th where she holed out with her sand wedge from 110 yards.
Prashanth holds a seven-stroke lead over Rianne Malixi of the Philippines, New Zealander Fiona Xu and Korean Yoo Hyun-jo.
Her brilliant performance has also raised Indian hopes of a first triumph in what is the 43rd edition of the Asia-Pacific Amateur Ladies Golf Team Championship.
At the half-way stage, India are in sole possession of second place.
In the event in which the best two daily scores in each team of three are counted, India posted a day two total of one-under 143 with Vidhatri Urs contributing a 77. Nishna Patel’s 78 was not needed.
With a 36-hole aggregate of three-under 285, the Indian team is four strokes behind the pace-setting Korean trio of Yoo, Kim Min-sol and Seo Kyo-rim.
In joint third place on 288 are China, Hong Kong, China and defending champions Japan, followed by Thailand (289), New Zealand and the Philippines (290), Indonesia and Malaysia (296), Chinese Taipei (297) and Singapore (305).
Prashanth took some time to warm-up, reeling off eight successive pars to begin her round before snaring a 10-footer for a birdie-three at the ninth.
“My putter was cold to start and it was an exhausting first eight holes,” said Prashanth, 97th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) and rated as one of the region’s outstanding young prospects.
After picking up her second shot of the day at 10, Prashanth suffered her only blemish at the par-three 13th where she pushed her tee-shot into the right-hand bunker and failed to get up-and-down.
Unfazed, she birdied 15 after a pinpoint wedge approach before bursting clear at the top with the eagle at the 416-yard 16th. With the bit between her teeth, further birdies at the par-three 17th and par-five 18th completed a memorable day. Her 66 was four strokes better than the day’s next best return from China’s An Tong.
“I’m loving the course and the wide fairways,” said Prashanth, who averages 270 yards off the tee.
“I’m feeling confident and am looking forward to the next two days here.” India’s previous best finishes in the Queen Sirikit Cup were fourth place at Delhi Golf Club in 1986 and 2011 and joint fourth in 1998, also on home soil, at the Bombay Presidency Golf Club.
Source: PTI News
