Vani Kapoor moves into top-10, Pranavi maintains steady play in South Africa

Cape Town, March 11

Vani Kapoor moved into the top-10 with a second straight sub-70 round, while first-timer Pranavi Urs continued her good run in the Investec South African Women’s Open.

Vani, after a first round 72, added 68 and 69 in the next two rounds to get to 7-under 209 and was tied eighth at the Steenberg Golf Club.

Pranavi, who began her season in South Africa and is playing her fifth event in six weeks in the country, played rounds of 70, 71 and 71 to be 4-under 212 and is lying tied-27th.

The other Indians, Amandeep Drall, Diksha Dagar and Ridhima Dilawari, missed the cut. The cut fell at even par with 61 players making it through to the final rounds.

The 2022 AIG Women’s Open champion Ashleigh Buhai, who had rounds of 64 and 65, added 3-under 69 in the third and opened a four-stroke lead in the event.

Spain’s Ana Pelaez Trivino and Germany’s Chiara Noja sit in second place on 14-under-par after 54 holes here.

Vani, looking for her first win on the Ladies European Tour (LET), had five birdies against two bogeys, both on the back nine, and she seemed confident after a fine second round 4-under 68.

Pranavi, the winner of the domestic Hero WPGT Order of Merit in 2022, started with three pars before finding a birdie on the fourth, but bogeys on the sixth, seventh and 11th pushed her back. She came back strongly with birdies on 12th, 13th and 15th to get under par and finish with 71.

On a sunny yet windy day at Steenberg Golf Club, Buhai began with a bogey on her first hole. However, the South African superstar bounced back with a birdie on the second before adding three more on the fourth, fifth and 18th holes to reach a total of 18-under-par.

Buhai is a four-time winner on the LET and has won this title three times previously—the last time being in 2018. With a four-shot lead heading into the final day, the Major champion knows she will still have to play well.

“The goal was to try and come and win this week. It would be huge, to win your home open is a huge honour. I’ve been able to do it before and to be able to do it again and tick it off would be great,” she said.

Pelaez Trivino, who is fourth in the 2023 Race to Costa del Sol, fired the joint-best round of the day with a 66 (-6) to move up the leaderboard.

The 24-year-old rolled in back-to-back birdies on two and three before adding two more on seven and eight. A dropped shot on the 12th didn’t put off the Spaniard as she made three birdies in her final four holes for a round of six-under.

Germany’s Noja produced a round of 69 (-3) on day three with six birdies and three bogeys on her scorecard.

Argentina’s Magdalena Simmermacher sits in outright fourth place on 13-under-par after carding a round of 67 (-5) on day three.

Italy’s Alessandra Fanali and Sweden’s Johanna Gustavsson share fifth place on nine-under-par.