Gaurika aims to seal Order of Merit of women's golf tour

Gurugram, Nov 28 :   Gaurika Bishnoi can seal the Hero Order of Merit of the Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour if she finishes in the top five in the final leg, which starts at the Classic Golf and Country Club here on Wednesday.

Gaurika, who turned professional in 2016, won only once in the third leg at Kolkata, but has finished second on four occasions and third on three occasions. She has accumulated Rs. 11,16,400.

The 19-year-old Rohtak-born golfer will now try and finish on a high with a final win to complete a successful season.

Second-placed Amandeep Drall, who missed some events on account of her being busy with the Ladies European Tour events outside India, still has a chance to overhaul Gaurika. For that, however, she would need to win the final event and hope that Gaurika does not finish higher than tied fifth. Amandeep has Rs. 10,38,300.

Amandeep has already won twice and finished runner-up on five occasions. A win in the final leg will give her a chance to cap a fine season.

It is now clear that the Hero order of Merit winner will be decided between Gaurika Bishnoi and Amandeep Drall, for the others are further down and would not be able to move to the top even with a win.

The final event will also present another talented youngster, 21-year-old Afshan Fatima, a chance to win her first title of the year. Fatima achieved her best finish at the previous 15th leg, where she finished third.

Neha Tripathi, who has had an up-and-down season, will be looking to finish on a winning note after dominating the 15th leg earlier this month. She won three times this year and was second once, but she finished outside the Top-5 far too many times to pose a challenge for the top spot.

A win in the last event would tie her with Vani Kapoor for the most wins in 2017.

Amandeep will play with Ayesha Kapur and amateur Diksha Dagar in the first round and will tee off in the last group, while Tavleen Batra, Saaniya Sharma and Neha Tripathi will play in the second last group. Amateur Ananya Barthakur, Gaurika and Smriti Mehra will play in the third group.

Afshan and Siddhi Kapoor will be the first to go out, while Mehar Atwal and Gursimar Badwal will follow in the second group.