Tvesa Malik triumphs at 13th leg of WPGT, continues her streak

Tvesa Malik won the 13th Leg of the Women’s Pro Golf Tour (WPGT) at the DLF Golf & Country Club, continuing her ascent to the form she has been striving for with her second victory in her previous three starts.

Her third consecutive Top-2 result in her last three starts came with the victory on her home course.

The 28-year-old shot 1-over 73 on the last day when scoring appeared to be challenging. She has been splitting her time between the home circuit and Ladies European Tour (LET). If not for her double bogey on the par-5 18th last hole, she may have won by a huge margin of ten strokes. With rounds of 65-74-73, she had a winning margin of eight after that. Her final score was 4-under 212.

Together with Khushi Khanijau (75) and Neha Tripathi (74) she moved up to second place. The trio in second place scored 4-over 220.

Asmitha Sathish shot the only under-par round of the day, finishing at 1-under 71 to tie for fifth position with Ananya Datar, who had been in second place overnight. Ananya had a difficult day, shooting 8-over 80 with no birdies.

Tvesa had a three-shot advantage going into the final day, but her closest competitors were unable to take control of the situation. Ananya Datar, Neha Tripathi, and Khushi Khanijau missed some critical shots as the round went on.

Tvesa bogeyed the sixth hole but made par on the next. She continued to shoot consistent pars after that, choosing to make a birdie on the Par-3 16th, and she then had the luxury of making a double bogey on the 18th.

While Neha, the winner of the 12th Leg, had one birdie and three bogeys, Jasmine had four birdies, all on the back nine, along with three bogeys and a double. Ananya crashed with six bogeys, a double, and no birdies, while Khushi scored one birdie and four bogeys.

Tvesa’s victory bodes well for her performance in the upcoming Hero Women’s Indian Open at the same venue.

Agrima Manral (74) finished eighth at 225, while Pranavi Urs (72) shot her highest card of the week and finished seventh. Pranavi Urs will shortly depart for the Asian Games in China. Smriti Bhargava, who has competed in international amateur competitions with the Indian Golf Union, finished eighth with a final-round score of 74 and a total of 230.

The Top-10 was completed by Kriti Chowhan (81) with a card score of 81.

Sneha Singh (76), who is now leading the Order of Merit (OOM), had another poor week as she came in T-11 with Seher Atwal (77), finishing with a score of 232.

Sneha continues to lead the Hero OOM, followed by Neha and Khushi in that order. Tvesa moved up to fourth place.

In 2018, Tvesa received the Order of Merit, but since then, she has been playing more on the LET. She turned to the local Tour this season after losing her full card on the LET to help her regain her form and confidence. The recent two victories ought to help with that.

Next week, the Delhi Golf Club will host Leg-14, the final competition on the Tour before the Women’s Indian Open the following month.

-IANS