At the end of 54 holes at the LINKS Hong Kong Open, Anirban Lahiri was tied for the lead. What promised to be the end of an 11-year wait for a title turned into a nightmarish final round for the Indian as he slipped to tied 17th place.
Vani Kapoor at the Hero Women’s Indian Open. (LET Golf) Back home, in the Hero Women’s Indian Open, Vani Kapoor led the field going into the final round at five-under par. Asian Games hero Pranavi Urs was not too far behind at -3. Despite a blistering start of four birdies in the first five holes, Vani could not maintain the momentum and finished runners-up.
And then there were two events in Korea – the BMW Ladies Championship on the LPGA and the Genesis Korea Championship on the DP World Tour – which had Aditi Ashok and Shubhankar Sharma in the mix. A win from any of them would have taken some miracle golf, but a good final round would have meant a lot to their seasons next year.
After opening with three straight rounds of 69, a 73 on Sunday dropped Aditi to tied 29th place. It helped her improve two positions to No72 in the Race to CME Globe standings, and she should keep her proud record of holding a full Category 2 LPGA card next season as well. And yet, she looked good for a bigger jump and get closer to No60, which is the cut-off for CME Globe Championship.
Sharma was in a precarious position with his DP World Tour status. The struggles this season had seen him slide to No. 182 in the Race to Dubai, and the Genesis Korea Championship was his last chance to make any kind of a move, or at least get a result that commensurate with the work he has been putting into his game.
It finally clicked for him. Four solid rounds resulted in a tied 11th place – his best finish of the season outside India (where he has won two titles in the DP World-PGTI season). It also elevated him 27 places to No155 on the Race to Dubai. That does not give him a status on the DP World Tour, but he will be a Category 7 member on the HotelPlanner Tour. In any case, he will have to go through the Qualifying School to
Read More