By IANS
Gurgaon : Curbing her aggression, Phatlum Pornanong of Thailand played to a plan and emerged as a start-to-finish winner with an even par-72 in the three-day DLF Women’s Indian Open golf tournament here Friday.
Phatlum was the only player to finish with a sub-par total at the DLF Golf and Country Club. She finished with a total score of 212 and four shots clear of Wei Yun Jye (71) of Chinese Taipei and Yuki Sakurai of Japan (72) who shared the second place at even par 216.
After an early bogey on the second she played pars all through till the 17th where she found her lone birdie of the day and closed with a par for a 72 that gave her a second title in as many starts.
The shy but smiling 18-year-old, speaking in halting English through her manager, aggregated four-under 212. She has now won both events on the LAGT this season, having won the Thailand Ladies Open five weeks ago.
Pornanong, who led from the first day, was four shots clear of Wei Yun Jye (71) of Chinese Taipei who shared the second place alongside Yuki Sakurai of Japan who carded 72 and her plans to burn the course remained unfulfilled.
Tied for fourth was World Cupper from China, Wang Chun who bogeyed the last hole for a 75 and Korea’s Nam Min Ji (70) at one-over 217.
India’s Smriti Mehra carded a final round of even par 72 and finished tied sixth, to be the best Indian with a total of two-over 218. It was her second successive top-10 finish on the Ladies Asian Golf Tour. Sharing the sixth place with her was Chinese Taipei amateur Hsien Yu-Ling (71) at two-over 218.
The Chiang Mai-born Pornanong, who despite her small built packs a lot of power did not take any chances on the golf course.
“I did not want to take any chances,” said Pornanong about her steady play . “It was great to win back to back and this takes away all the tiredness,” said the shy Thai girl, who hopes to strike it big in the US LPA Tour in the near future.
“I am going to play the Qualifying School this year,” she said. “Now I will be playing the domestic tournaments and then travel abroad.”
Disappointed at not being able to challenge for the title, Smriti agreed it was reasonably good finish and she would take it.
Amateur and teenaged Tanya Wadhwa was the next best Indian at tied 19th with a total of 10-over 226 and a final round of 74. Holding out bright prospects for the future was Sharmila Nicollet, another teenaged amateur who aggregated 14-over 230 and was tied 26th, a great finish in an international tournament one so young.
Irina Brar, who was hit by a back problem on second day, withdrew on medical grounds.
Maintaining the run of an ace a day, Japan’s Satoko Hasegawa became the third player to register a hole-in-one at the DLF Women’s Indian Open, when she aced the par-3 11th hole on the third and final day.
Earlier in the tournament, Shih Huei-Ju of Chinese Taipei in the first round and her roommate Chen Kuan-Pei had a hole-in-one each on the first and second days.
Hasegawa shot a 74 and finished at seven-over 223 and in 16th place. Chen and Shih finished at four-over 220 in tied ninth place.