Winner Pincess Superal of the Philippines and Amandeep Drall. Pics: Courtesy Simone Asia Pacific Cup
Jakarta, Indonesia, Aug 20: Amandeep Drall shot an even par 72 with one bogey and one birdie on the closing 18th to finish as the Top Indian in the inaugural Simone Asia Pacific Cup in Indonesia. Amandeep finished T-18th as her teammate in the team competition Vani Kapoor carded 2-over 74 and was T-20th. Together the Indian pair was Tied 11th.
India’s two other players this week, Gaurika Bishnoi (72) finished T-22nd and Diksha Dagar (75) was T-26th. Together Gaurika and Diksha finished T-14th as a team. Gaurika had one birdie and one bogey in her round, while Diksha started with a bogey and a double bogey on first two holes and dropped another shot on eighth. She dropped yet another one on 15th, but also birdied 10th and 18th for her 75.
Princess Superal of the Philippines got off to a fast start with three straight birdies from second to fourth and never loosened the grip as she added two more birdies on the back nine without dropping any shots. Her 5-under 67 gave her a three-day final total of 204 and she won by three shots over Korean Ryu So Yeon (67), while Lydia Ko (70) was third at 208.
Lydia Ko, who trailed Princess by one at the start of the day, failed to mount a strong challenge as she signed for a 70 to finish four shots behind the champion.
“It’s pretty special to me because this is my first international win as a professional,” said Princess, who pocketed a cool USD $100,000 for the biggest pay check of her career. “I’ve been waiting for this moment to arrive. I’m very happy.”
Playing alongside the more illustrious Ko, Princess showed no signs of nerves as she birdied three of the opening four holes to open a two-shot lead and never looked back since.
She picked up her fourth and fifth birdie of the day on holes 10 and 15 to finish with a bogey-free scorecard at the Pondok Indah Golf Course in Jakarta, Indonesia.
“To be able to play with the world’s top golfers, obviously I did feel nervous but happy at the same time. It’s the first time I had this chance and I will cherish them,” said the Filipino.
Runner-up Ryu (9-under) and her teammate Bomee Lee (-2) won the team event, and they were followed by the Filipino duo, Princess (-12) and Pauline Rosario (+5).
Team New Zealand with Lydia Ko (-8) and Momoka Kobori (+3) were third at 5-under for the three days.
