Gurgaon: Sharmila Nicollet finally landed herself a title this season with a clutch putt on the 18th and final hole of the sixth leg of the Hero Women’s Professional Golf Tour, even as Nalini Singh Siwach messed up the 17th with a triple bogey and ended up second at 219, one shot behind the winner. Amateur Vani Kapoor (223) finished third.

Sharmila parred the final round to total 218, while Nalini ended with a 74 and 219. Vani shot 76 and was third, though the third-placed cheque went to Chandigarh’s Saaniya Sharma (76) at 228 and she was one ahead Neha Tripathi, whose 74, took her to 229 for fourth place. Smriti Mehra was the only player to go under par at 71 for a total of 230 in fifth place, and Bengaluru’s Rani Sonti (75) was sixth at 232.

It was a see-saw battle between Sharmila and Nalini, who last week was the top professional in fifth leg. Through the front nine, Sharmila was even par with one birdie and one bogey, while Nalini dropped two bogeys. That gave Sharmila the edge by one shot going into the back nine.

Nalini seemed to have taken charge with a birdie on 11th as Sharmila bogeyed the 10th and Nalini was once again one ahead. Nalini bogeyed the 12th and Sharmila bogeyed the 13th, so the lead stayed with Nalini.

Then there was a stunning eagle from Nalini on the par-5 14th while Sharmila despite a birdie fell two shots behind. The next two holes were parred and with two to go, Nalini was sitting pretty with a two-shot lead. But the vagaries of golf hit Nalini with a triple and the pendulum swung Sharmila’s way. Sharmila kept her nose ahead as both girls birdied the 18th. It was Sharmila's first title of the new season and fetched her the winner's cheque of Rs. 75,000.

This was the sixth leg of the 15-leg WPG Tour which has a total purse of Rs. 42 lakhs.

The Tour now takes a break and will resume in Chandigarh in November.