Rhea Purvi Saravanan (Left) with the winner’s cheque and trophy from Mr D.B. Sundar Ramam, Captain – Golmuri GC, Jamshedpur
The season-opener of the 2025 Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour (HWPGT) saw a new name rise to the top as 22-year-old Rhea Purvi Saravanan from Kolar (outside Bangalore), secured her first-ever professional win at the Golmuri Golf Club in Jamshedpur after a long wait and a testing career trajectory. Rhea defeated Bangalore-based amateur Saanvi Somu in a play-off on the first extra hole after both finished tied at 1-under-par across three rounds.
Rhea, competing in her fifth season as a professional, carded rounds of 72-72-71. Her performance improved on a tied-eighth finish in the 14th leg of the 2024 season. Saanvi, who remains a runner-up once more despite consistent performances, posted scores of 75-69-71, including a birdie on the 18th hole each day.
3 top performers on tour were not a part of the mix in the first event of the season – Last season’s HWPGT Rankings winner, Delhi’s Hitaashee Bakshi, 2010 Asian Games participant Vani Kapoor from Gurugram, and 3-time HWPGT winner Vidhatri Urs from Bangalore were missing from action.
In the rest of the playing field, Bangalore’s golfers dominated the top deck with Jasmine Shekar delivering a strong finish to claim third place at even-par, and Durga Nittur taking the fourth spot with a 77 on the final day.
Tour veteran Neha Tripathi (72) and 2023 HWPGT Rankings winner Sneha Singh (74) tied for fifth at 3-over-par. Jaipur’s Khushi Khanijau produced the tournament’s standout performance with a bogey-free 5-under-par, featuring an eagle and four birdies, to secure seventh place.
The second leg of the Hero WPGT will take place at the Tollygunge Golf Club in Kolkata next week, where the field will see more of its players making an appearance.
