Rookie Avani finishes as top Indian in 28th place at Jabra Ladies Open

Évian-les-Bains (France), May 25 (IANS) Avani Prashanth finished as the highest-placed Indian player at the Jabra Ladies Open as a final round card of two-under 69 helped her to tie-28th in the event being played at the Evian Resort Golf Club near here in southeastern France. India’s other players were Hitaashee Bakshi and Tvesa Malik at T-34 and Diksha Dagar at T-39.

Czech player Sara Kouskova played a strong final round of four under par to secure her first LET title by two shots over her closest competitor, Shannon Tan. Kouskova carded 67 for a 10-under total and two better than Shannon (68) at 8-under.

Avani has had a strong season and has failed to cut only twice this year in eight starts. Avani, a winner on her home Tour Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour (WPGT), while being an amateur, has had three Top-20 finishes in her rookie year.

Avani had a great start to the final day at the Evian Resort Golf Club. Starting from the sixth, she made three birdies, and her first dropped shot was on the 11th, and another came on the 14th.

On her next nine, she birdied the 16th, bogeyed the 17th, birdied the first, and totalled even par 213 for three days.

Hitaashee Bakshi, who looked primed for a top 10 finish after her second-day score of five under par 66, struggled on the final day as she carded a six over par for the day and fell back to tied 34th in the standings. The round included seven bogeys and only one birdie for a card of 77 and a final score of two over par.

Tvesa had a slow start to the tournament as she played four over par on the first day. However, stable performances on the second and third day with scores of 70 one under par helped her move up to tied 34 by the end of the event with a final score of two over par.

Diksha carded a 73, two over par on the last day, to finish the event with a total score of three over par.

Kouskova started the round on the front nine and made birdies on the seventh and eighth holes. She continued her strong run in the back nine with another birdie on the 10th hole. Despite a small stumble with a bogey on the 14th hole, Kouskova was able to seal the round with back-to-back birdies on the two final holes of the round. This win takes Kouskova into the third spot in the order of merit.

On the second day leader Chiara Tamburlini finished the tournament in tied-5th. She continued to remain a beacon of consistency with another op-5 finish. Tamburlini moved into the fourth spot in the order of merit.

The Order of Merit leader, Mimi Rhodes, finished tied 32nd in the standings despite her struggles on the second day with a score of 76, five over par for the round. On the final day, Rhodes played a 69 to bring her total score to one over par for the tournament.

Cara Gainer of England secured a tied third place in the standings alongside Maha Haddioui of Morocco and remained second in the Order of Merit behind Mimi Rhodes.

--IANS

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