Lee-Ann paces herself for Indian Open golf with Suzhou title

Gurgaon: South Africa’s Lee-Anne Pace grabbed her second straight title in as many weeks at the Suzhou-Taihu Ladies Open and perfectly warmed-up for the upcoming Women’s Indian Open.

Pace won in a four-way playoff with the US’s Hannah Jun, Paraguay’s Julieta Granada and the Netherlands’ Christel Boeljon at the Suzhou-Taihu International Golf Club. Pace will be competing in next week’s Korean Ladies Open in Cheju Island before coming to India. Paraguay’s Julieta Granada, who was tied for second, is also scheduled to play in India. Tied on fifth place with a score of 212 were Wales’ Becky Brewerton, Rebecca Coakley of Ireland and second round leader Dewi Claire Schreefel of the Netherlands. Other players with good finishes included two-time Indian Open winner, Phatlum Pornanong. She was tied eighth along with Korean Jeehae Lee and Kylie Walker of Wales, who will also tee up in Gurgaon. India’s Smriti Mehra tied for 55th, while young Sharmila Nicollet missed the cut. The Hero Honda Women’s Indian open will be held at the DLF Golf and Country Club from Nov 11-13. As many as 123 players from 26 countries will participate in the event. Pace, scheduled to play for the first time in the Women’s Indian Open, which has a record purse of $ 300,000, the highest ever for women’s professional golf event in India, ended the three-round tournament with identical five-under 211. Hannah, Pace and Granada finishing the final round with a 68 while Boeljon signed off with a one-over 73. Pace won the second play-off hole. Her win not only gave her back-to-back titles but also extended her lead on the Henderson Money List after she picked up another Euros 30,000 winner’s purse. Last week at the Sanya Ladies Open, she also won the event to pocket a similar amount. ‘To say that I was not nervous would be lying, but I managed to keep my calm and not get affected. I started looking at the people and admiring young children who were looking at us play and it help soothe my nervousness. I played really good today and I hope to carry my form to Korea and India,’ said Pace. IANS