Gurugram, 27 Oct: Mannat Brar shone brightly, finishing as the top amateur and the best-placed Indian in a tie for 11th, even as England’s Liz Young celebrated her belated birthday by winning the Hero Women’s Indian Open by one stroke here on Sunday.
Brar carded an impressive two-under 70 in the final round, concluding the tournament with a total of four-over 292 at the DLF Golf and Country Club.
Professionals Pranavi Urs and Hitaashee Bakshi followed closely, tied for 15th at two strokes behind.
Tvesa Malik finished T26 at nine-over 297, while Ridhima Dilawari and Vani Kapoor shared 31st place at ten-over 298.
“The last two days were a mix for me,” Mannat said.
“I wasn’t at my best with the irons, but my short game made up for it. Today and yesterday, though, I really started hitting my irons well and had a great feel for the greens. I could read the slopes and use them to my advantage, which helped me perform well over the four days.
“I’ve had a strong amateur career so far, being ranked as India’s top player for quite a while. I’ve represented India internationally, and this event was another highlight—I’m genuinely proud and grateful to be in this position.”
For Liz Young, the win marked only her second title on the Ladies European Tour. Having never missed the cut in her previous eight appearances, Young extended that streak to nine, shooting 72 to total 2-under 286 and win by one shot over four players who tied for second.
Young, who turned 42 on October 23, totalled 2 under par 286 to add her name to a list of British winners of the Hero Women’s Indian Open that includes England’s Dame Laura Davies (2010) and Becky Morgan (2018) of Wales who are also the two past champions older than the 2024 winner.
Young’s only other title on the Ladies European Tour came at the VP Bank Swiss Ladies Open after 13 winless years on the tour since turning professional in 2009.
The USD 400,000 event was her 248th start on the LET. A third place at the Dutch Ladies Open in July was her previous best finish of the season.
Young (74-73-67-72) fought off all challenges from Manon De Roey (74-74-65-74) of Belgium and compatriot Alice Hewson (72-70-71-79) and a host of others, including Morocco’s Maha Haddioui (71-77-71-69).
At the 18th tee, Young was a shot ahead of De Roey with Hewson having fallen off the pace and De Roey being her main challenger. Young found the water and bogeyed, but De Roey was unable to make par to force a play-off.
Hewson finished with a triple-bogey eight to fall out of the top 10.
De Roey with bogeys on 17 and 18 fell into shared second with Singapore’s Shannon Tan, Frenchwoman Agathe Sauzon and Momoka Kobori of New Zealand at 1-under 287.
Only five players broke par for their final score in a week when the course tested the player to the fullest.
“I think it will take a couple of days to sink in but it was a close battle all day,” said a beaming Young, who received the winner’s cheque of USD 60,000.
“Me and Manon are good friends. She was playing well all day and I just happened to hole a good birdie putt on 15 that tied us up and I managed to make it interesting on the last for everybody.”
Young expressed her satisfaction with overcoming the tough challenges the course presented throughout the week.
“The week has been great. It’s been a really tough challenge mentally and physically. Especially today, it was really hot out there and humid. Every shot out there, you’ve got to think your way around. Every putt, you can’t let up on but I feel I did a good job with it this week.
France’s Perrine Delacour posted the day’s only bogey-free round with a 5-under 67, featuring three birdies and an eagle on the par-5 15, finishing in a share of sixth place. (PTI)