Sport - Golf

Superb finish by Sharmilla

NEW DELHI: Sharmilla Nicollet sunk a long uphill putt to eagle the final hole and win the 40th Ladies Northern India amateur open golf championship by nine strokes at the Delhi Golf Club course here on Friday.

This was the third successive title for Sharmilla after the Punjab and Noida Open victories.

The Army girl proved too strong for the opposition despite having mild fever.

“I was not feeling well today. I was a bit drowsy at the start but recouped on the home stretch to finish strongly,” said Sharmilla.

Starting with a five-stroke lead over Nalini Singh,

Sharmilla opened disastrously, dropping shots on the first three holes.

Meanwhile, Nalini saved par in the first two and birdied the third to reduce the gap to one stroke.

Sharmilla then parred eight straight holes before sinking a 15-foot birdie on the par-3 12th. She was more confident on the return, as she parred the 14th to 17th after bogeying the par-4 13th.

At the clubhouse finish, Sharmilla was on the green in two with a driver-three-wood combination.

A 30-foot putt for eagle was unexpected but she sank it with poise to win the title with an aggregate of 18-over 306.

Nalini shot 77 on the final day for a total of 315.

The seasoned Shruti Khanna finished third with 318.

The scores:

Sharmila Nicollet (82, 79, 72, 73) 306, Nalini Singh (79, 83, 76, 77) 315, Shruti Khanna (82, 80, 79, 77) 318, Gauri Monga (86, 77, 79, 81) 323, Shweta Galande (85, 78, 86, 78) 327, Neha Tripathi (80, 80, 86, 82) 328 and Mayali Talwar (87, 83, 80, 81) 331.

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