December 23rd 2010, New Delhi: Playing under pressure as the overnight leader by a slender stroke, Nalini Singh Siwach proved her mettle after winning the 8th leg of the Hero Honda Women’s Professional Golf Tour. Signing off at score of 73 for today, Nalini played steady golf to upset the younger competitor who turned in three rounds of level par golf at the Qutub Golf Club in Lado Sarai this afternoon.

Nalini Singh Siwach

A close battle between the two, became a test of skill as pressure mounted on both the players as they drew swords after Sharmila made an Eagle on the PAR 5. Both players were tied at the finishing hole at scores of 216.

Sharmila played two over in the first nine with spectacular birdies on the second and sixth holes. Coming in Sharmila made a birdie on the 11th hole par 4 and an Eagle on the very next 12th hole par 5 at Qutub to be even with Nalini. Sharmila picking up three strokes on the back nine did not rattle Nalini, who displayed tremendous maturity on the back nine to maintain her slender lead till the 17th hole. The 18th hole proved to be negative for Nalini who hit her second shot in the bunker and was not able to make a par on the 18th hole. Sharmila on the other hand pushed her enormous drive to the right and made a good par to get into the playoff with a score of 216 for the three days.

Veteran professional Simi Mehra had to be content with the 3rd position and trailed 10 strokes behind the two younger professional at a score of 226. Youngest professional on the Tour Tanya Wadhwa finished at a score of 233 with a 77 today. A historic turning point in Women’s Professional Golf was witnessed by spectators this afternoon as the younger brigade surged ahead to surpass India’s veteran Ladies European Tour Professional player Simi Mehra for well over 15 years.

The Women’s Golf Association announced two additional legs for the current season at the Willingdon Sport Club in Mumbai and BPGC in the month of March. The total prize money for the tour has doubled in the season 2010-11, with corporate recognising professional golf for the fairer sex . The Women’s Golf Association intends to open the tour for international players for the next season in 2011-12, with applications being received from several international professionals seeking to play in the Hero Honda Women’s Professional Golf Tour.


SCORES:-

Position		Rnd 3	Rnd 2	Rnd 1	Total
	PLAYER	72	72	72
1	Nalini Singh (Siwach)	73	74	69	216
2	Sharmila Nicollet	72	72	72	216
3	Smriti Mehra	70	77	79	226
Amateur	Laverry Kumar (Am)	77	77	79	233
4	Tanya Wadhwa	78	78	79	235
5	Saaniya Sharma	76	78	85	239
6	Preetinder Kaur	75	81	85	241
______________________Cut________________
	Seema Sobti	84	78	80	242
	Pallavi Jain	75	87	81	243
	Nitika Jadeja	83	78	83	244
	Nalini Singh	91	83	85	259
Rule (+16)
	Priya Puri	0	91	87	178
	Reena Singh	0	0	89	89