New Delhi, Dec 6 (IANS): Indian woman golfer Vaishavi Sinha floundered in the final round to finish fifth as French Gwlady Nocera carded one-under 72 for a three-day total of 11-under 208 to clinch the $300,000 Hero Women's Indian Open title at the Delhi Golf Club (DGC) Saturday.
Vaishavi, who was in sole second spot after two rounds, suffered a meltdown on the 18th hole in which she double bogeyed to slip to sole fifth place on the final leaderboard. She got a total of 214 (67, 71, 76).
For her second win in India, the 39-year-old Nocera had to work hard on the final day to win the title and the winner’s cheque of $45,000.
The number two ranked golfer on the 2014 Ladies European Tour Order of Merit started the day on a positive note when she birdied the second hole. But two bogeys on the fifth and ninth holes blemished her card on the front nine.
Nocera picked up her game on the back nine by birding the 11th, 12th and 17th holes against one bogey on the 15th hole.
Despite having an indifferent day by her usually high standards, Nocera had banked enough in the two previous rounds for her to sail home safely without much of a threat from the chasing pack.
Vaishavi looked set to finish as a worthy runner-up but on the 18th hole, she pulled out the driver in her quest to find a few extra yards, but only managed to hit the ball off the tee into the bushes.
A failed recovery with her second stroke meant she was staring down the barrel. In the end she needed two extra putts to complete the par five hole. Her third round card of three over pulled down her overnight score of eight-under to five-under.
The big gainers in the third round were Fabienne In-Albon, Hyeon Seo Kang and Hannah Burke. Both In-Albon and Kang carded four-under, while Burke returned a score of two-under to finish with a three-day total of six-under that put the trio in tied second.
India’s Gauri Monga, too had a good outing. She finished tied eight with a three-day total of 217. Aditi Ashok was the best amateur this year with a final round score of three-under 70 and a total of 219 that helped her to finish in tied 13th place.
Final scores:
208: Gwladys Norcera (Fra) 64-72-72.
213: Kang Hyeon-seo (Kor) 72-72-69; In-Albon Fabienne (Swi) 71-73-69; Burke Hannah (Eng) 71-71-69.
214: Vaishavi Sinha (Ind) 67-71-76.
216: Titiya Plucksataporn (Tha) 71-74-71; Holly Clyburn (Eng) 67-75-74.
217: Holly Aitchison (Eng) 75-72-70; Gauri Monga (Ind) 70-76-71; Phumpunbamrung Punpaka (Tha) 75-71-71.