Sharmila Nicollet rallied from a four-shot deficit to get into a play-off with debutant Vani Kapoor and then produced two glorious shots to emerge as the champion of the Hero-KGA tournament on Friday.
Sharmila carded a second sub-par round in three days with a bogey-free two-under 70 to total one-over 217, the same as Vani (74). Sharmila was the only player to turn in two sub-par rounds at the season-opener at the KGA Golf Course.
Sharmila, who was struggling with her confidence following missed cuts on Ladies European Tour, found her form at the right time with a flawless 70 and Vani Kapoor made a superb debut as a pro to finish second.
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In the play-off, Vani was at least 80 yards short off the tee, but hit a great second shot to land on the green to 12 feet from the pin. But Sharmila’s second shot was even closer and less than two feet from the cup. While Vani missed her putt, Sharmila tapped in to win the title.
Nalini Singh Siwach (72) played a fine round with one birdie against one bogey for the day’s second best card and edged out seasoned Smriti Mehra (76) to third place. Smriti was fourth and another Bangalore girl, Aditi Ashok, still an amateur, carded 73 and was fifth at 225.
“It was great to win again in Bangalore and at KGA, which is my home course. My coach Tarun (Sardesai) decided to come on the bag today and he told me that he wanted me to study the lines and putt. That helped my confidence and I am so glad that I did myself proud with a bogey-free round,” said Sharmila, who picked up Rs 2,62,500 as the winner’s cheque.
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“Starting the day four behind Vani, who was brilliant in her debut as a pro, my goal was to keep bogeys off the card and the birdies would come by themselves. That’s what happened. Tarun did not read a single line for me and by the end of the day, I felt very confident, as I don’t want to be dependant on someone else to read putts for me,” Sharmila added.