Women’s Indian Open: England’s Liz bags top prize, Pranavi and Hitaashee the best performing Indians

Liz Young tackled the climax in style, as she prevailed by a stroke over four others, despite a bogey on the last hole, in the $400,000 Hero Women’s Indian Open golf championship at the DLF Golf and Country Club on Sunday.

Watched by a packed gathering, Liz hit her shot marginally short and saw the ball rolling into the lake. Undaunted, she hit a 100-yard shot close to the hole and made a crisp putt thereafter, for a joyous finish on the 18th hole. Her second title on the Tour fetched $55,534 for Liz, who had celebrated her birthday a day before the start of the championship.

She had the best card on the third day, with a 5-under 67, despite a bogey each on the last three holes. She wound up with 2-under 286 in four rounds, with a par round on the final day.

“On this course, you play for par. If the birdies happen, it is great. You have to be prepared for anything. It was physically and mentally challenging. I did a good job this week. [I] am looking forward to being with my daughter who has her eighth birthday next week,” said Liz, who was emotional, thanking her husband for being a rock of support.

Shannon Tan of Singapore, Agathe Sauzon of France, Momoka Kobori of New Zealand and Manon De Roey of Belgium were one-under 287, and collected $21,380 each.

Mannat Brar was the best amateur as she shot a 2-under 70 for the day, for an overall 4-over 292. Interestingly, the overnight joint leader, Alice Hewson of England, went 7-over par this day and was joint 11th with Mannat.

Pranavi Urs and Hitaashee Bakshi were joint 15th with 6-over 294, and were presented a Hero bike each, apart from a cash purse of $6,725, for the best performance among the Indian professionals.

Tvesa Malik (71), Vani Kapoor (71) and Diksha Dagar (70) did well on the final day, to score under par, and bolster their confidence for future tournaments.