Christine Wolf, who grew up in an Austrian mountain area of Tirol, stood atop the peak as she rid herself of the nightmare of 2018, when she stumbled with the Hero Women’s Indian Open (HWIO) Trophy almost in her grasp.

A year after finishing tied for second in the HWIO, Wolf finished ahead of the pack by turning in a bogey-free final round to claim her first Ladies European Tour title. The 30-year-old Austrian, who saw her chances wrecked by a quadruple bogey on 18th on the third day and by a double on the same hole on final day, made no mistakes this time and took care of unfinished business.

Wolf received her Trophy from Pawan Munjal, Chairman, Hero MotoCorp. Wolf (73, 68, 67, 69) totalled 11-under to finish three shots ahead of Marianne Skarpnord (70 and eight-under) and Meghan MacLaren (72 and seven-under). Whitney Hillier, the halfway co-leader, shot 72 to be fourth at six-under.

Standing on the 18th tee, she held a three-stroke advantage and her third shot sailed over the lake and rolled beyond the flag into the rear greenside bunker. She played a superb sand shot and was able to tap-in for a regulation par to win the event by three strokes over Skarpnord.

Wolf played four rounds of confident golf on one of the world’s most challenging golf courses and was error-free over the weekend. She went 44 holes without a bogey, her last coming at the 10th hole in the second round on Friday.

Wolf’s local caddie, Ajay, was perhaps the most excited to make amends as he had taken the loss in 2018 personally. “He texted me all of last year and even at Christmas time. He said, ‘I’m so sorry, ma’am, I think it was my fault.’ I said, ‘Well, the only thing you could have done differently was hit that shot for me’, so it was nice having him there and I think he’s super excited as well.”

After being showered in water and champagne, Wolf said: “I’m very relieved. I was looking forward to coming back here. I didn’t think that I would actually pull through. I just tried to stay calm and enjoy it out here and hit good shots.”

Unfinished business

She added, “I am super happy to post my first victory but also because I did it here. Everyone knew about the drama that went on last year. When I left last year, I was ready to be back, play the course and get some revenge on the 18th.” Indian amateur Anika Varma, 15, proved herself a star in the making by finishing in solo fifth place, while Tvesa Malik was the leading Indian professional in a tie for sixth with Cloe Frankish and Emma Nilsson.

Varma despite a double bogey on Par-5 15th shot 70. At three-under 285 she was the best Indian at fifth and shot 67-70 on the weekend. Malik, the top Indian pro this week. She improved on her last year’s Tied-13 with steady cards of 72, 72, 71 and 72.

Varma said, “I was nervous in the beginning, but as soon as I hit my first tee shot I felt fine. I had a good group (with Sweden’s Emma Nilsson and Manon De Roey of Belgium) today and I enjoyed playing with them. I was pretty consistent today, just had one double (bogey) on the 16th. Before that I was doing pretty good and I didn’t miss a single regulation before the 16th hole, I think only that one and the 18th, which was the highlight of my day.”

Tvesa said, “I think it was a little bit more of a struggle but I am happy with my overall performance for the week. On the 18th hole, I wasn’t expecting that to happen at all (chip-in from off the green) so I’m glad I could make a birdie from there.”

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