Abu Dhabi Golf Club: Mannat Brar, making her fourth appearance at the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific Golf (WAAP) Championships, equalled the best round by an Indian with a four-under 67 here on Thursday. Mannat was the best of the six Indians in the fray and was lying tied-ninth after the first day at the picturesque Par-71 Hoiana Shores course, which is hosting its first big event.Mannat was four shots behind Seo-Jin Park (64) with four others at 6-under 65. Mannat was tied ninth with An Le Chuc of Vietnam, Eunseo Choi of New Zealand, and Jie-En Lin of Chinese Taipei. Saanvi Somu at 1-over 72 was the second-best Indian at T-42, and debutant Guntas Kaur Sandhu (73) at 2-over was T-48. Heena Kang and debutant Zara Anand, with 76 each, were T-76, and another debutant, Kashika Misra (78) was T-83rd.
The top 50 and ties will make the cut after the second round. The favourite and World No. 4 Rianne Malixi withdrew after five holes because of a back strain.
Mannat’s four-under 67 was the best score by an Indian at any WAAP, and in relation to par, it equalled Anika Varma’s 68 (-4) in Round 2 at Abu Dhabi Golf Club, UAE, in 2021. Anika went on to finish T-9, the best by an Indian. In 2024, Avani Prashanth also shot 68 (-4) in the first round at Siam Country Club and finished T-10, only the second Top-10 by an Indian.
Mannat, 18, the reigning all-India Amateur champion, keen to make up for the past three missed cuts, started on the tenth and made the best of the back nine, which afforded more birdie chances. She had five birdies against one bogey to turn in 4-under.
On the second nine, the front side of the course, Mannat went into a ravine on the very tough Par-5 third hole. She took two shots to come out and dropped a shot. However, she got the shot back on the Par-4 sixth and closed with three birdies for a four-under 67.
Mannat said, “It was great. It was really nice in the first half. It was nice and cool. It wasn’t as breezy as I was expecting it to be. It was just that the mood was good, the vibes were good, and there were fans around. So it was just a very positive first half of the round, which just transferred into the second half. Was just a good day overall, though I had a couple of lip outs also.”
Summarising her round, she added, “I started off good. It was a good stable opening hole, and it went on to 11, 12, 13, 14; some pretty short holes, and I got some wedges in. I struck those well. Coming into 15, 16, another- I had a good strategy in place, and the wedges did their job. They were close to the hole and just made some putts.”
She commented, “Yes, definitely. I would say the back nine is shorter, and (we) can make some more birdies there. The wind being a little lesser during the first half of the day was definitely a good time to be playing the back nine.
She went on, “I think confidence-wise, I’m a little better. I played quite a bit last year. I played abroad, I played in Europe, so I was well versed with the windy conditions and that helped a lot because I’ve seen a lot. This was pretty mild for me. I think that was the biggest difference, playing a lot and seeing such great players. It was eye-opening, and that helped.”
”I’m not really thinking of making it into the weekend or anything like that. Just showing up tomorrow, playing my own game, having fun on this beautiful golf course, and whatever happens, happens.”
She went on, “I think confidence-wise, I’m a little better. I played quite a bit last year. I played abroad, I played in Europe, so I was well versed with the windy conditions and that helped a lot because I’ve seen a lot. This was pretty mild for me. I think that was the biggest difference, playing a lot and seeing such great players. It was eye-opening, and that helped.”
Article Source: IANS