Cape Town, April 27 (IANS) The final day in Cape Town brought challenging conditions and shifting fortunes as Pranavi Urs emerged as the leading Indian performer at T-24th SA Women’s Open. Diksha Dagar was T-37 and Avani Prashanth ended T-57.
Pranavi signed off with a steady 1-under 72, finishing as the top Indian at T-24 despite a closing bogey. Diksha Dagar, who had been in contention earlier, slipped on the final day with a round of 76 to end at T-37.
Avani Prashanth carded a 77 to finish T-57. The remaining Indian trio—Vani Kapoor, Tvesa Malik, and Hitaashee Bakshi—missed the cut.
At the top of the leaderboard, England’s Esme Hamilton claimed her maiden Ladies European Tour title with a composed final-round 71, sealing a two-shot victory.
She held off strong challenges from Cara Gainer and Pia Babnik after an intense battle in testing weather at Royal Cape Golf Club.
Diksha began her round steadily with five consecutive pars but dropped shots on the sixth and ninth holes. Although she recovered briefly with a birdie on the 11th, a costly double bogey on the 15th ended her hopes of a higher finish.
Pranavi started from the back nine, mixing two bogeys with a birdie. She surged briefly on her second nine with three birdies between the first and fifth holes but slipped out of the top 20 after dropping a shot on the eighth.
Avani’s round featured two birdies, two bogeys, and two double bogeys.
Hamilton’s victory was hard-earned. Starting the final day tied with Babnik and narrowly ahead of Gainer, she endured an early bogey before building momentum with birdies on the fifth and sixth. A double bogey on the ninth, combined with Gainer’s birdie, saw the lead tighten dramatically at the turn.
However, Hamilton showed remarkable composure on the back nine, birdieing the 11th, 14th, and 16th to regain control. She closed with a calm par on the 18th to finish at 15-under and secure the win in just her 23rd start on tour.
Gainer finished second at 13-under after a round of 72, while Babnik placed third at 12-under. A group including Anna Morgan, Brianna Navarrosa, and Emma Spitz shared fourth place at nine-under
In the Ladies European Tour Order of Merit standings, Agathe Laisne continues to lead, followed by Casandra Alexander and Kelsey Bennett, with Hamilton’s win lifting her into fourth place.
–IANS
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