Pune, Jan 12 (PTI) Amateur Nishna Patel held her nerves in the closing stages to eke out a one-stroke win over Sneha Singh and Hitaashee Bakshi in the first leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour here on Friday.
Nishna completed a memorable triumph on the Pro Tour with a fine birdie on the 18th hope for a round of one-under 70 and totalled six-under 207 as Sneha (67) and Hitaashee (69) were stranded a shot behind at five-under 208 at the Par-71 course.
Nishna, who had Hitaashee and Sneha for company in the lead group, started the day with a two-shot lead over Hitaashee and four over Sneha.
Yet, it was the 2023 Order of Merit winner, Sneha who made the big charge, seeming to be running away as she opened the day with three birdies in a row. She added a fourth birdie on the fifth hole and a fifth birdie on the ninth to turn in 5-under 30.
Nishna, with a birdie and a bogey on the front nine, was suddenly a shot behind Sneha, who then stretched the lead to two shots with the sixth birdie of the day on the 11th.
Nishna hung in courageously and birdied the 12th to reduce the gap to one. It stayed like that till the end of the 16th, which was bogeyed by all three players in the lead group.
With two holes to go, Sneha faltered with a bogey on the 17th, which Nishna parred and the two were now level.
On the 18th, Nishna found a birdie and Sneha managed only a par. Hitaashee had a chance to force a play-off, but she failed to find a birdie on the two closing holes and ended in a tie for second with Sneha.
That gave Nishna a well-deserved maiden title on the pro circuit, while still being an amateur. She kept up the tradition of at least a win by an amateur every year since 2017.
Another amateur, Mannat Brar (70) finished in a tie for fourth with Seher Atwal (71) at even par 213.
Amandeep Drall finally found an under-par round with a 2-under 69 and moved to a respectable sixth place at 3-over 216, while Ananya Datar (75) was seventh.
Jasmine Shekar (75), Ananya Garg (75) and Khushi Khanijau (78) were tied for eighth at 8-over 221.
Neha Tripathi (71) and Rhea Jha (76) were tied for 11th place.
The second leg will be held at the Bombay Presidency Golf Club (BPGC) from January 16 to 18.
Source: PTI News
