Nishtha Madan. Pic: Noah Montgomery
Sept 21: Nishtha Madan shot even par or under on each of the three days to emerge a two-shot winner in the Sun City South event on the Cactus Tour in Sun city, Arizona on Sunday. Nishtha, who is based in US and has been playing on the Cactus Tour, won her first Cactus title on her first start with a total of three-under 213. Nishtha had earlier won a title in a local pro event in Kentucky.
Nishtha shot 71-70-72 and finished ahead of Oliva Benzin and Page Lee. The win gave Nishtha a cheque of $ 1,900 and it doubled her earnings from four previous starts, one of which was a second place in 31st leg won by Paige Lee.
Nishtha now enters the Top-20 of the Order of Merit, which is led by none other than the Women’s Open champion Sophia Popov, who won three times in 12 Cactus Tour events. But that was before she hit stardom by winning the AIG Women’s Open, one of the five Majors for women’s golf.
Nishtha made her pro debut in the 20th leg in May and the event was won by Sophia Popov and it was one of the three Cactus Tour wins by Popov.
Nishtha’s sister Astha Madan plays on the Hero Women’s Pro Tour in India and also has a limited status on the Ladies European Tour.
Another Indian, amateur Annika Varma has also been playing on the Cactus Tour. Both Indians are coached by Noah Montgomery.