Vani Kapoor with her winning cheque at DLF Golf & CC in Gurgaon
This was Kapoor’s first win since March 2020, when she beat Pranavi Urs by two strokes at Jaypee Greens. Vani has played fewer domestic tournaments in recent years as she has been a regular on the European Tour.
Kapoor started the final round three strokes behind Tvesa Malik and Gaurika Bishnoi, who had won the previous leg. Kapoor closed with 33 on the back nine to edge Bishnoi, who shot 71-72-72 (1-under 215), by one stroke.
Malik (74-68-77) faded with a final round 77 to finish fourth at 3-over 219 while Ridhima Dilawari (73-74-70) finished third at 1-over 217. All top 4 girls count DLF as their home course and certainly the home course advantage seemed significant with the undulating greens requiring a lot of local knowledge.
This was the first “Major” on the Hero WPGT with a prize fund of ₹23 lacs (US$ 27,000), the highest ever on the tour, according to Champika Sayal, Secretary General WGAI. Sayal tweeted out that, “this is our first Major on HWPGT, the last tournament will carry the biggest Prize Money. For World Rankings we need a minimum of US$ 50,000 tournament and international participation. Hopefully in 2024 our plan is to target that.”
Kapoor’s wins on Tour by year:
2012 – 3
2013 – 2
2014 – 6
2015 – 5
2016 – 7
2017 – 4
2018 – 1
2019 – 0
2020-2021 – 1
2022 – 0
2023* – 1
Credits:-
Photo – Vani Kapoor