PORNANONG PHATLUM won the Women's Indian Open and took home a cheque of $18,000. The Thai impressed with her near-flawless performance, bogeying on the 2nd hole (par-4). Pornanong carded an even round and an overall four-under 212. After the early miss, she returned pars till the 17th hole where she struck the lone birdie.
"I did not want to take any chances. It was great to win back-to-back and this takes away all the tiredness," said the spirited teenager, who hopes to strike it big in the US LPA Tour in the future. Yun Jye Wei of the Chinese Taipei and Yuki Sakurai of Japan were placed joint second. While Wei finished one-under, Sakurai carded one-over and finished with a total of 216.
Indian hopes took a beating as Smriti Mehra finished her final round with a par 72 and ended tied sixth. "It's a reasonably good finish and I will take it," said Mehra, who was ninth overnight. Amateur Tania Wadhwa, who was tied 21st in Round 2, climbed up the ladder to finish tied 19th after carding two-over in the final round.
Irina Brar, who was tied 35th overnight, withdrew as her sprained back prevented her from taking further part. Teammate Shalini Nicollet finished tied 26th. The World Cuppers were also in for a disappointment as they failed to make a mark. Jenni Kuosa of Finland finished four-over and was tied 14th, Danielle Montgomery of Britain finished tied 23rd, Kiran Matharu slipped nine places to finish tied 33rd. Japan's Satoko Hasegawa became the third player to get a hole-in-one when she aced the par-3 11th hole.
{{/usCountry}}Irina Brar, who was tied 35th overnight, withdrew as her sprained back prevented her from taking further part. Teammate Shalini Nicollet finished tied 26th. The World Cuppers were also in for a disappointment as they failed to make a mark. Jenni Kuosa of Finland finished four-over and was tied 14th, Danielle Montgomery of Britain finished tied 23rd, Kiran Matharu slipped nine places to finish tied 33rd. Japan's Satoko Hasegawa became the third player to get a hole-in-one when she aced the par-3 11th hole.
{{/usCountry}}LEADERBOARD:
212: Pathlum Pornanong (Tha) 70-70-72;
216: Yun Jye Wei (Tpe) 74-71-71; Yuki Sakurai (Jpn) 73-70-73;
217: Nam Min-ji (Kor) 75-72-70; Wang Chun (Chn) 73-69-75;
218: Hsien Yu Ling am (Tpe) 75-72-71; Smriti Mehra (Ind) 73-73-72.