GURUGRAM: Jahanvi Bakshi brought home a card of even par 72 in the final round to cruise to a four-shot win over a fighting Vani Kapoor in the fifth leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour on Friday.
Jahanvi’s massive four-shot overnight lead gave her ample breathing space despite Vani’s valiant three-under 69 on the final day.
Jahanvi totalled 4-under 212, while Vani was even par 216 to end runner-up for the third time in the last three starts.
Tvesa Malik (69) finally found her rhythm and rose to Tied-3rd alongside Hitaashee Bakshi, who was three-under for the front nine and four-over for the back nine.
Amateur Avani Prashanth had another fine run as she finished sole fifth with her best card of the week at one-under 71.
Jahanvi’s win means the two Bakshi sisters have now won once each on the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour.
Hitaashee won last December and Jahanvi added to the family silverware on Friday.
In the final round, while Vani and Hitaashee had excellent front nine scores – Vani going out in four-under 32 and Hitaashee in three-under 33, Jahanvi, despite yielding some shots, kept her nerves on the tougher back nine and stayed ahead.
While Jahanvi, Vani and Tvesa shot one-over 37 on the back nine, Hitaashee went to four-over 40 and fell back.
Jahanvi started the day in style with birdies on second and third, but dropped shots on fourth and seventh opened the door a little, though she birdied the ninth to be one-under 35.
Vani ran through the front nine with four birdies against no bogeys. At that stage Vani, starting seven behind Jahanvi, was just four behind. The gap narrowed to two as Jahanvi double bogeyed the 10th.
That was as close as Vani was able to get, as Jahanvi tightened her game, birdied the 11th and 17th and could even afford to bogey the Par-5 18th for a round of 72 and a well-deserved win.
Vani, meanwhile, dropped two crucial shots with bogeys on 12th and 13th and despite a birdie on 14th, she was unable to make up lost ground with four pars in the last four holes.
Lakhmehar Pardesi (78) was sixth, Oviya Reddi (76) was seventh and amateur Hunar Mittal (76) was eighth. Another amateur Vidhatri Urs (78) and Amandeep Drall (80) ended in a tie for ninth.
Among some of the established stars, Gaurika Bishnoi (75) was 11th, Neha Tripathi (77) was 14th, Astha Madan (80) was 21st. Diksha Dagar had another poor day with 89 and at 30th she finished last.
Amandeep Drall, despite her T-9 finish, hung onto the lead on the Hero Order of Merit with Vani on her heels as the gap narrowed to less than Rs. 90,000.