Johannesburg, Mar 3 (PTI) Indian golfer Pranavi Urs stayed on course for her first Top-10 finish on the Ladies European Tour, shooting a solid four-under 69 to lie tied ninth after the third round of the Joburg Ladies Open here.
The 19-year-old, who last week made her first cut in South Africa’s Sunshine Ladies Tour, played the best round of her fledgling professional career to move to five-under 214 after 54 holes at the Par-73 Modderfontein Golf Club.
She thus moved up significantly from her second round place of Tied 17th.
The other Indian golfer to make the cut was Ridhima Dilawari, who had a disappointing day as she shot six-over 79 to slip from Tied-29th to tied 59th.
Three other Indian golfers Vani Kapoor (75-78), Amandeep Drall (76-78) and Diksha Dagar (78-77) missed the cut.
Sweden’s Moa Folke (65) had a sensational birdie-birdie-eagle finish as she overtook second round leader, Denmark’s Nicole Broch Estrup (71). Folke was now 12-under and led by two strokes over Estrup.
Pranavi, teeing off from the first, bogeyed the third, but quickly found her rhythm and nailed four birdies in a row from fifth to eighth to make the turn at three-under.
On the back nine, she rode a roller-coaster with a birdie on 10th, a double on 12th and an eagle on 13th. She had a couple of birdie chances, but she parred the last five holes for a creditable 69.
Last week Pranavi finished tied-13th after being given an invite into the Jabra Ladies Classic.
A good finish here will get her into the Investec Women’s South African Open, which in 2019 was won by India’s Diksha Dagar.
Denmark’s Nicole Broch Estrup (72-66), who improved by six strokes from her first round to card a bogey free seven-under 66 in the second round, led with three holes to go in her third round.
She was 11-under but fell to 10-under as she bogeyed the 16th.
On the other hand, Folke who was 8-under with three holes to go. Folke birdied both 16th and 17th and holed her second shot for an eagle two on 18th and opened a two-shot lead.
Klara Davidson Spilkova (70) moved to 9-under and was third, while Kiera Floyd of South Africa shot 67 to get to 7-under and was tied with another Swede Linnea Johansson (72).
Earlier in the second round, Pranavi Urs closed with a birdie in the second round to ensure weekend action. Her colleague Ridhima made the fourth cut in five starts on the Sunshine Ladies Tour, where some of the events are co-sanctioned with the Ladies European Tour.
Pranavi is a multiple winner in India and topper on the Hero Order of Merit in 2022 with four wins.
Source: PTI News
