By V Krishnaswamy
Avani Prashanth turned in a brilliant bogey-free card of five-under 67 to rise to the top of the leaderboard at the end of the second day of the Ladies European Tour (LET) Pre-Qualifier – Asia.
Prashanth, who was disappointed with her even-par first round, stormed back with three birdies on the front nine and another two on the back stretch of the Jack Nicklaus designed Classic Golf and Country Club.
She was later joined by Tvesa Malik, who added a three-under 69 to her first round 70, to claim a share of the lead at five-under.
Singapore’s Sock Hwee Koh (72-70) was tied third with Ridhima Dilawari (72-70) at three-under, while the first-round leader Pranavi Urs had a rough day with four bogeys against one lone birdie on the 17th. She is now one-under and in fifth place.
The top eight and ties from a field of 29 players are assured of a spot in the Final Stage of the LET Qualifying School.
Ananya Datar (72-72) sits sixth at even par, while Durga Nittur (70-75) was seventh as Seher Atwal (72-75) shared the eighth spot with Marin Mizuno of Japan, who had rounds of 73-74 at three-over 147.
Amateur Prashanth was happy with her play and said, “I was disappointed on the first day when I could not get going on the greens and needed 32 putts. In the second round, I found 14 fairways and 12 of the 14 greens in regulation and needed 26 putts. I hit well yesterday also but putting made all the difference today.”
The teenaged Bengalurean added, “I am staying focussed as this can be a tricky golf course and there is one more round to go.”
The amateur has an invite to the Mallorca Ladies Open next week, where she will be playing alongside Diksha Dagar. She will then go to Marrakech for the final stage.
“I have a job to do tomorrow and then I will take it from there,” said the 17-year-old, who is still an amateur, but has already won once on the LET Access Series in Sweden. She also topped the Queen Sirikit Cup’s individual section and was fourth at the star-studded World Amateur Team Championship’s individual section.
Malik had a great start with four birdies on the front nine. She had back-to-back gains on the first and second holes and repeated it on the seventh and eighth. Two bogeys on the 13th and 16th pulled her back, but she closed with a birdie on the 18th for a 69.
“I am playing well and hitting nicely but putting needs some work. Today was better than the first round. One more round to go, so I am staying in the present,” said Malik, who is looking to regain the full status she had on the LET until 2022.
Urs was quite disappointed, saying, “Nothing worked for me today. Not hitting and not putting.” She added with a laugh, “Just when I thought I would have no birdies today, the putt dropped on the par-3 17th.”
Dilawari, who began with bogeys on the second and third on the first day, had bogeys on the first and second in the second round. She fought back well with six birdies, three each on the two nines, but also dropped shots on the 12th and the 16th.
Singapore’s Koh, who came for the Hero Women’s Indian last month, was steady with a bogey-free two-under 70. She parred her first 13 holes with numerous missed birdie putts, but finally, two birdie putts dropped on the par-5 14th and par-5 18th. The only other international player in the top-8 is Japan’s Mizuno with 73-74.
This is the first pre-qualifier while a second one is scheduled to be held at the Golf Club Rotana and Samanah Golf by Nicklaus and Noria Golf Club from December 10-12.
That will be followed by the gruelling five-round 90-hole Qualifying School Final Stage to be held at the Al Maadan Golf Marrakech & Royal Club de Marrakech from December 16-20.
