Vani's hat-trick of birdies gets her 5th title at the 14th Leg of WPGT

Jaipur, Nov 7 (PTI) Vani Kapoor sunk in three birdies in the last three holes to clinch the 14th Leg of the Women's Pro Golf Tour, edging out Jasmine Shekar in the closely-fought third and final round, here Friday.

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 the last.

Amateur Riya Jadon (67) produced the second best round of the final day and the week as she leapt up to fifth place at 1-over 211.

Seher Atwal with a run of five birdies in a seven hole stretch from the fourth to the tenth, shot 4-under 66 and ended in a tie for sixth at 2-over 212.

Smriti Bhargava (69) was eighth, as Khushi Khanijau (70), Jahanvi Bakshi (73) and Ridhima Dilawari (75) finished Tied-ninth at 4-over 214.

Vani 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. PTI Corr AT AT