Sneha Singh dominates eighth leg of Hero WPGT

Gurugram, Sep 10 (IANS) Amateur Sneha Singh played error-free golf for a 3-under 69, the best round of the week, to cruise to a massive five-shot win in the 8th leg of the Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour at the Golden Greens Golf Club here. Sneha, a past winner on the Hero WPGT, registered her third win on the Pro Tour, while being an amateur.

With a final round of 69 that had birdies on second, seventh and 18th, she totalled 3-under 213 and was five clear of another amateur Khushi Hooda (72), who was 2-over 218 for the 54 holes.

Sneha, 17, a student of DPS Khajaguda in Hyderabad, is coached by her father Sanjay. Playing golf since the age of six, Sneha has now won on the Hero WPG Tour once each in 2019 (in Hyderabad), 2020 (in NOIDA) and in 2021 in Gurugram.

Siddhi Kapoor emerged as the top pro in third place overall with a card of 2-over 74 and a total of 3-over 219, while amateur Avani Prashanth, one of the players tied for second overnight, never recovered from a nightmarish start of a double bogey and two other bogeys in the first five holes for a score of 3-over 75. She was Tied-fourth with Jahanvi Bakshi (75) at 4-over 220.

Hitaashee Bakshi (73) was sixth, while yet another amateur Vidhatri Urs (77) and Shweta Mansingh (71) were tied for seventh.

That meant there were three amateurs in the top five and four in the top eight, indicating that there is a lot of amateur talent waiting to join the pro ranks.

Sneha Singh, who won her first title on the Hero WPGT alongside pros in 2019, never looked in trouble after having started the final round as the sole leader with a one-shot advantage over Siddhi, Jahanvi and Avani. Even as others dropped shots, the Hyderabad-based Sneha picked up three birdies without dropping any shots for a comfortable win.

Khushi, also an amateur, started with a birdie but dropped shots on eighth and 10th before picking a final birdie on 18th.

For Siddhi, the middle of the round was forgettable as she dropped a shot each on every hole from eighth to 11th and ended the day at 74 despite three birdies.

Avani started with a double and bogeys on second, fifth and 10th and never recovered for a card of 75.

Four players Lakhmehar Pardesi, Khushi Khanijau, Saaniya Sharma and Afshan Fatima were tied for ninth place.