Photo: Symetra Tour
Pro Golf – LPGA
Nishtha Madan, formerly from Gurugram, shot rounds of 71-68-72-73 (4-under 284) to finish tied-27th at the LPGA and Symetra Tour Qualifying Tournament Stage-I at Rancho Mirage in California from August 19-22.
Other Indians in the field – Nikita Arjun (77-74-69) from Bangalore, Saaniya Sharma (78-73-73) of Chandigarh and Sharmila Nicollet (76-77-73) who has been based in Florida for the past few years, missed the cut at the Qualifying school.
The tournament required a player to finish tied-95th or better to gain an entry into the Stage-II scheduled from October 21-24 at Plantation Golf & Country Club in Florida.
From there players who finish tied-30 and better, go to the final stage in November-December which consists of a new two-week tournament to determine LPGA playing status for the following year.
Nishtha talking about her week said, “Played very steady this week. Took each day as if it was the first and just kept my focus on that and nothing else.
Have been working on a few swing changes and general improvements which were very key in my performance and nice to see the hard work pay off!”
Nishtha graduated in Psychology from Sacramento State University, California, in May 2020 and turned professional the same month. She has already notched up five pro wins playing on the Cactus Tour, a developmental tour based out of Arizona. and the Kentucky Women’s Open.
Previously in July, Nishtha, who currently holds limited playing rights on the Symetra Tour, finished tied-24th at the weather hit Symetra event with 3-under par in New York.