Wolf buries ghosts of past, lifts Women’s Indian Open title - Hindustan Times
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Wolf buries ghosts of past, lifts Women’s Indian Open title

Gurugram | By
Oct 06, 2019 11:12 PM IST

It was here last year that Wolf had seen her title hopes evaporate, and on Sunday, the heart must have skipped a beat despite the three-shot lead over Marianne Skarpnord.

Hailing from Rum, a small market town in the Alpine state of Tyrol in Austria, Christine Wolf grew up negotiating treacherous terrain.

File photo of Christine Wolf.(Getty Images)
File photo of Christine Wolf.(Getty Images)

The way down from the 18th tee box of the DLF Golf and Country Club to the flag is undulating too, but nothing compared to what the 30-year-old has back home. Yet, once more the prospect of an upheaval loomed towards the close of the Hero Women’s Indian Open as Wolf’s third shot found the bunker by the green.

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It was here last year that Wolf had seen her title hopes evaporate, and on Sunday, the heart must have skipped a beat despite the three-shot lead over Marianne Skarpnord.

Wolf claims she was calm and told herself “it would at worse be a bogey”. Such was the momentum that the bunker shot landed close to the pin for a putt for par.

The victory margin intact, Wolf can now say with certainty that she deserved to win on a golf course that had pained her to an extent that she had been counting the days to this $500,000 event since the start of the season on the Ladies European Tour.

Barring that ripple, Wolf left little till the end with three birdies on the front nine and staying bogey-free on the back nine.

Skarpnord matched her but Wolf did not waver, confident her wedge play and keeping the ball in play would see her prevail.

She sealed her first win on the LET, but it will be a while before the relief sinks in. Despite talking to her family the night before which calmed her somewhat, it was a restless couple of hours in the hotel bed. Drifting in and out of sleep, Wolf dreamt of lifting the trophy on the 18th green to balance the equation, but even after she did with a solid final round score of three-under 72, there was disbelief. “I never thought I would pull through like this.”

After close on Saturday, Wolf had spoken with some misgiving of how her caddy had reminded her of last year as they approached the 18th green with a birdie for the taking.

On Sunday, sensing that the past was about to change, he raised the matter again, but this time to apologise. Wolf could only smile. After all, she was about to conquer a venue she had been in awe of for some seasons now.

Wolf has had her “revenge” and peace has been made in a way that she can now say “I am used to playing such golf courses”.

Final scores

277: Christine Wolf 73, 68, 67, 69; 280: Marianne Skarpnord 68, 71, 71, 70; 281: Meghan MacLaren 67, 73, 69, 72; 282: Whitney Hillier 67, 71, 72, 72; 285: Anika Varma (a) 76, 72, 67, 70; 287: Tvesa Malik 72, 72, 71, 72.

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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    Robin Bose has more than two decades of experience as a sports reporter. He specialises in writing on golf.

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