Delhi’s Ridhima Dilawari equals record with sizzling 66, wins Panchkula leg

CHANDIGARH: New Delhi’s Ridhima Dilawari turned the tables on overnight leader Afshan Fatima by shooting a sizzling 66, equalling the record low number for a round by a lady player at the Panchkula Golf Club. Dilawari (24) won the 14th leg of the Rs 11 lakh Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour in style by beating Fatima by a huge margin of five strokes on Friday having finished the championship with scores of 73,72, 66 to total five-under-par, 211.
Dilawari’s 66 with birdies on holes 1,3,4,6, 14 and 15 against a lone bogey dropped on the 9th hole equalled amateur Avani Prashanth’s effort at the Panchkula Golf Club during last year's championship.Prior to the 66 by Prashant, Simi Mehra held the record for the low number at the PGC, a 67, which she held from 2008 to 2021.
Dilawari’s championship score of 211 is among the lowest at the PGC for lady players. However, the lowest round by a lady player on the Tricity greens is a 65 registered by Panchkula's Amandeep Drall at the Chandigarh Golf Club (CGC) in October 2021.
“The record low number for the Hero Tour across India for a single round is a 10-under-par shot by Neha Tripathi at the ITC Classic Golf Resort, Gurugram, in 2018. The best score over three rounds on the Hero Tour is 17-under-par by Kiran Matharu at the ITC Resort in 2015,” Women’s Golf Association of India (WGAI) secretary-general Champika Sayal told TOI.
The lady pros will descend on the CGC greens on November 16 to play the 15th — the final leg of the Hero Tour for the 2022 season — with a prize fund of Rs 6 lakh on offer.
For Afshan, who suffered a bogey on the 10th hole and a double bogey on the 11th hole for the second day in a row, it was the best result of the current season, but she stays winless since 2018. Afshan aggregated an even-par 216 for the championship. The best finish for Tricity players was by Saaniya Sharma who ended up tied-5th with scores of 73, 77, 70. Sharma's 70 for the final round was one among three under-par rounds on Friday, the other two red numbers coming from Dilawari (66) and Gaurika Bhishnoi (68).
With her second victory of the 2022 season, Dilawari moved to the fifth spot on the Hero Order of Merit while Pranavi Urs, who did not play this week, stayed on top. Hitaashee Bakshi is placed second while Seher Atwal and Gaurika Bishnoi are positioned third and fourth respectively on the 2022 Hero Order of Merit.