Gaurika Bishnoi cruises to second win of the year in Hero WPG Tour

Khel Today Bureau

Hosur, Tamil Nadu: Gaurika Bishnoi got off to a flying start and did not take the foot off the pedal to complete a comprehensive five-shot win in the eighth leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour at the Clover Greens.

It was the second win this season for Gaurika, who had earlier won the sixth leg and finished second in the seventh leg. After Sneha Singh, Gaurika becomes the second player to win more than once in 2023.

Gaurika Bishnoi during the third and final round of the 8th Leg of the Hero WPG Tour at Clover Greens.

It was the second win for Gaurika at Clover Greens, as she was also the winner when the Tour last came to this golf course in 2019.

The 24-year-old Gurgaon-based Gaurika started the day one shot behind the leader and went on to card 4-under 68 for an impressive 10-under 206 total. She had rounds of 68-70-68.

Gaurika picked up the winner’s cheque of Rs.1,48,000, which was presented to her by Austin Roach, Director Clover Greens.

As Gaurika cruised to a fine win, amateur Keerthana Rajeev opened the day with a double bogey but closed with four birdies in the last seven holes, to shoot 2-under 70, her third straight under par round of the week and finish second at 5-under 211 with rounds of 71-71-70.

Seher Atwal had a rough round of 76 that included a double bogey on the fourth sandwiched by bogeys on the third and the fifth. Then there were two more closing bogeys as she ended third at 3-under 213 that included rounds of 69-68-76.

Despite Gaurika running away with the title, the scores were commendable as six players finished under par.

Behind Gaurika, Keerthana and Seher, there was Hitaashee Bakshi (73) in fourth, while Kriti Chowhan (76) and Sneha Singh, two-time winner in 2023, tying for fifth.

After a par start, Gaurika was on a tear with an eagle on Par-5 second followed by birdies on second and third. A dropped shot on Par-5 sixth was made up with a birdie on seventh and yet another on ninth. She was 5-under 31 for the front nine.

It was a bit of a rocky back nine with bogeys on 12^th, 15^th, and 18^th, but with birdies on 14^th and 17^th, the win was never in doubt.

Keerthana overtook Seher and Hitaashee with a bogey free back nine that had four birdies, including two on 17 and 18. In comparison, Seher Atwal after a 3-over 39 front nine also dropped bogeys on 17^th and 18^th as she collapsed to 76 on the final day.

Hitaashee Bakshi was in the running for a runner-up finish but three straight bogeys on 13-14-15 pushed her down to fourth.

Sneha Singh had the day’s joint best round of 68 with Gaurika. Sneha had six birdies against two bogeys, while Kriti Chowhan dipped with a 76 in the final round.

Two amateurs, Ayushi Dutta (71) and Anvitha Narender (72) alongside Rishika Muralidhar (71) ended in a tie for seventh.

Tvesa Malik, still struggling with her game, shot 74 after 76-72 on the first two days and ended T-13 at 6-over for the three rounds.