Pranavi 24th as amateur Shannon wins Singapore Ladies at home
Jul 08, 2023
Singapore, July 8 : Pranavi Urs was the top Indian at T-24 even as Singapore amateur Shannon Tan gave the inaugural Singapore Ladies Masters a dream start by winning the pro event. Pranavi shot 71 in the final round and was 2-over 218 for three days.
The other Indian who made the cut, amateur Avani Prashanth (73) was T-41 and Seher Atwal missed the cut at the event, which is part of the China LPGA Tour.
Shannon, playing in the third last group, closed with a birdie on her final hole for a 66 to lead at 10-under. She shot 6-under 66 with four birdies on the back including three in a row from 11th to the 13th and then had a final 15-foot birdie for victory on the 18th. She shot 68-72-66.
Playing one group behind Shannon, the Chinese rookie Ji Yuai (67), led after 16 holes but faltered with a bogey on the 17th. She failed to birdie the last to force a play-off and ended second at 9-under and one short. Thai Sherman Santiwiwatthanaphong (68-72-70) was third at 6-under 210.
Pranavi Urs, who had a rough first round 75, finished with a 72-71. Her final round included five birdies and four bogeys, three of which came in the middle of the round between the sixth and the ninth. Pranavi, who now plays on the Epson and Ladies European Tours, finished Tied-24th at 2-over 218.
Indian amateur Avani Prashanth, a special invitee to the pro event, who in the past has played alongside Shannon at the Sage Valley Invitational in US and at the Augusta National Women's Amateur in 2022, carded 73 after first two rounds of 73-76 to finish at 6-over 222 and was Tied-41st. Shannon and Avani played a practice round this week.
Pranavi said, "This week I wasn't the best in terms of how I was feeling physically, but I'm glad my coach was on the bag this week and we could work on the game a little bit. Overall, my game feels pretty good as I have been playing well over the last few weeks, getting my form back after not the best starts on the Epson Tour."
Avani added, "I am grateful for the special invite on the basis of my past US Kids performance and hats off to Shannon for the fine win."
The 19-year-old Shannon, a first-year student at Texas Tech University, had earlier this season played with Rose Zhang, who won her first pro event on the LPGA Tour after being World No. 1 amateur for a long time.
"Those experiences have helped me. Laguna with Peter (Khee) Uncle and Kevin (Khee) uncle and Lyn (Yeo) Aunty, giving me a spot this week. I am delighted to justify that with a win," said Shannon, who this week had as her caddie, Dan Sleep, who plays regularly at the Laguna.
