Noida, March 20 (IANS) Ridhima Dilawari rallied from a bogey-bogey start to fire her third straight round of 71 and sneak ahead of Jasmine Shekar in the sixth leg of the Women’s Pro Golf Tour at the Jaypee Wishtown Golf Course in Noida on Friday. Playing at the Par-71 layout, Ridhima, starting the final round three shots behind Jasmine, was five shots behind after just two holes.

Ridhima then staged a superb recovery with two birdies and no bogeys for the rest of the 16 holes, while Jasmine carded a 4-over 75 that ended with a bogey. Jasmine and Ridhima were tied at even par when they came to the 18th

Ridhima parred, but Jasmine bogeyed, giving Ridhima her third win in the last five events. Ridhima won the second and the fourth legs and has now added the sixth leg as she continues to lead the Hero Order of Merit. For Jasmine, who won the first leg this season, this was her second straight second-place finish.

Of the six legs that have been held so far, Ridhima has won three, while Jasmine and Tvesa Malik won once each, and amateur Lavanya Gupta took the fifth leg.

While Ridhima had a smooth ride after a rough start, Jasmine had a roller coaster of a round. She began bogey-birdie and then bogeyed the fifth and double bogeyed the sixth. A birdie on the ninth meant she turned in 2-over 38. On the back nine, she bogeyed the 13th and needed to par the 18th to force a play-off. She dropped a shot and dropped to second place at 1-over 214.

Saanvi Somu had the day’s second-best card of 1-under 70 and rose to tied third place at 2-over 215 and was tied with Amandeep Drall (71).

Neha Tripathi (73) was sole fifth, while Tvesa Malik (69) brought home the day’s best score and was Tied-sixth alongside amateurs Guntas Kaur Sandhu (71) and Alysha Dutt (73), who shared the amateur prize.

Yet another amateur, Mahreen Bhatia (73) was ninth, as amateur Anuradha Chaudhuri (75) and Anvitha Narender (75) rounded off the Top-10.

A total of 53 players started the week, and 34 made the cut in the event that carried a purse of Rs. 17 lakh.

Ridhima leads the Order of Merit with Rs. 9,91,667, while Jasmine Shekar is second with earnings of Rs. 7,38,333. Amandeep Drall is third with Rs. 5,84,000.

--IANS

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