Vani Kapoor wins 14th leg of Hero Women's Pro Golf for season's fifth title

Jaipur: Vani Kapoor produced a super finish with three birdies in the last three holes to jump past Jasmine Shekar in the third and final round and win the 14th Leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour at the Rambagh Golf Club.

Vani’s three closing birdies gave her a round of 2-under 68 for the third day in a row. It gave her a three-day total of 6-under 204, as Jasmine Shekar (68) despite closing with a birdie, fell one stroke short.

It was Vani’s fifth win of the season as she maintains her lead at the top of the Hero Order of Merit.

Sneha Singh (69) finished third at 2-under 208, while Amandeep Drall (70) was fourth at even par 210.

Vani, starting the final day with a one-shot lead, saw that lead go away on the very first hole as Jasmine opened the day with a birdie. Jasmine fell back again as she dropped a bogey on the next.

However, with Vani dropping back-to-back bogeys on the third and the fourth, Jasmine was back on level terms despite a second bogey on the third.

The tight battle continued as Vani birdied Par-3 sixth to go one ahead, but once again Jasmine caught up with a birdie on the ninth.

On the back nine, Jasmine birdied the 11th to go ahead while Vani’s run of pars continued from the seventh to the 15th.

As the lead duo approached the last three holes, Jasmine was still one ahead. Then Vani birdied each of the last three holes while Jasmine managed only to par the 16th and the 17th, and birdied only the last.

Vani Kapoor with five wins in 11 starts leads the Order of Merit, while Amandeep Drall is second, Jasmine Shekar is third, Sneha Singh fourth and Ridhima Dilawari is fifth.

Diksha Dagar, Pranavi Urs make cut at Aramco China

Shenzhen: Diksha Dagar and Pranavi Urs made the 36-hole cut at the Aramco China Championship and gave themselves a chance to improve their standing in the final round.

Diksha, who took a break after the Hero Women’s Indian Open, shot 3-under 70 with four birdies against one bogey, and Pranavi Urs also carded 3-under 70 with five birdies against two bogeys.

Diksha was Tied-35th and Pranavi Urs was Tied-49th. Avani Prashanth (74) and Tvesa Malik (75) missed the cut. The cut fell at -2 with a total of 63 players making it through to the final day.

Thailand’s Cheenglab fired a round of 65 (-8) on day two to lead with a total of 12-under-par.

The 2023 LET Order of Merit winner rolled in birdies on the second, third and fifth holes before an eagle on the sixth and another birdie on the eighth.

Cheenglab dropped her only shot of the day on the 15th hole but then made her hole-out eagle on 17 and a birdie at the last to finish in style and hold a one-shot lead with one round remaining.

Chinese duo Ruoning Yin and Ruixin Liu are in a share of second place on the leaderboard after they also both fired rounds of 65 (-8) on day two.

The quartet included of Mimi Rhodes, Kristyna Napoleaova, Trichat CHeenglab and Kultida Pramphun began the day in third place on 18-under-par.

It was a fast start for Team Rhodes, who were eight-under for the round after five holes, and made the turn in -9 in China.

They continued their fine form on the back nine as they gained shots on every hole before Cheenglab’s spectacular hole-out eagle on the 17th gave the team an unassailable lead.

This is a second Team victory for England’s Rhodes, who was part of the winning team in Riyadh in 2024 just a few months after turning professional.

Tags : Hero Pro Golf Tour, Vani Kapoor, Diksha Dagar, Pranavi Urs, Aramco, Jaipur, China