Cape Town, Apr 27: Pranavi Urs carded 1-under 72 to finish as the top-Indian at tied-24th in the Investec SA Women’s Open golf tournament, even as compatriot Diksha Dagar (76) slipped on the final day here.
Pranavi and Diksha finished T-24th and T-37th respectively, while Avani Prashanth (77) was T-57th.
Three other Indians in the fray, Vani Kapoor, Tvesa Malik and Hitaashee Bakshi had missed the halfway cut.
Meanwhile, England’s Esme Hamilton earned her maiden LET title with two-shot victory. Hamilton fired a final round 71 (-2) to beat Cara Gainer and Pia Babnik for the title following an epic battle with compatriot Cara Gainer.
A former SA Open winner, Diksha opened with five pars before she bogeyed the sixth and the ninth. On the back nine, she birdied the 11th but double bogeyed the 15th for a disappointing finish.
Pranavi, who has come close to a title a few times including at the Indian Open, teed off from the back nine and had two bogeys and one birdie on the stretch.
On the second nine, she birdied three times between the first and the fifth, but gave away a shot on eighth and dropped out of Top-20.
Avani had two birdies, two bogeys and two double bogeys.
It was a wet windy final day at Royal Cape Golf Club as Hamilton grabbed a two-shot victory with a 15-under par total. The win is Hamilton’s first on the LET in just her 23rd start after joining the circuit as a rookie last year.
Tied with Slovenia’s Pia Babnik heading into the final round, and one clear of Gainer, Hamilton bogeyed the third before racing into a two-shot lead with birdies at the fifth and sixth as Babnik dropped a shot at the first.
However, at the challenging ninth, Gainer produced a clutch birdie and Hamilton carded a double-bogey. This produced a three-shot swing and the two were tied at 12-under par at the turn.
But on the back nine Hamilton showed nerves of steel as the rain began to pour in Cape Town. She birdied the 11th, 14th and 16th, reclaiming her two-shot advantage with two holes to play.
Then with steady play on the 18th, Hamilton tapped in for par for victory as fellow players rushed in to congratulate her.
Gainer finished second on 13-under par after she carded a final round 72 (-1). Babnik was one shot further back on 12-under par as the 22-year-old returned to her best this week.
American duo of Anna Morgan and Brianna Navarrosa finished in a tie for fourth on nine-under par alongside Austria’s Emma Spitz. Morocco’s Maha Haddioui, Italy’s Alessandra Fanali and Canada’s Anna Huang were seventh on seven-under par. (PTI)
