Curbing her aggressive instincts and playing to a plan, Phatlum Pornanong of Thailand emerged as a start-to-finish winner with a steady even par 72 that made her the only player to finish with a sub-par total in the three-day the DLF Women's Indian Open at the superbly set up DLF Golf and Country Club on Friday. She finished at 212 and four shots clear of Wei Yun Jye (71) of Chinese Taipei and Yuki Sakurai of Japan (72) who shared the second place at even par 216.

After an early bogey on the second she played pars all through till the 17th where she found her lone birdie of the day and closed with a par for a 72 that gave her a second title in as many starts.

The shy but smiling 18-year-old, speaking in halting English through her manager, aggregated four-under 212. She has now won both events on the LAGT this season, having won the Thailand Ladies Open five weeks ago.

Pornanong, who led from the first day, was four shots clear of Wei Yun Jye (71) of Chinese Taipei who shared the second place alongside Yuki Sakurai of Japan who carded 72 and her plans to burn the course remained unfulfilled.

Tied for fourth was World Cupper from China, Wang Chun who bogeyed the last hole for a 75 and Korea's Nam Min Ji (70) at one-over 217.

Smriti Mehra carded a final round of even par 72 and finished tied sixth, to be the best Indian with a total of two-over 218. It was her second successive top-10 finish on the Ladies Asian Golf Tour. Sharing the sixth place with her was Chinese Taipei amateur Hsien Yu-Ling (71) at two-over 218.

The Chiang Mai-born Pornanong, who despite her small built packs a lot of power did not take any chances on the golf course which was ready to penalise any errant play.

"I did not want to take any chances," said Pornanong about her steady play. "It was great to win back to back and this takes away all the tiredness," said the shy Thai girl, who hopes to strike it big in the US LPA Tour in the near future.

"I am going to play the Qualifying School this year," she said. "Now I will be playing the domestic tournaments and then travel abroad."

Disappointed at not being able to challenge for the title, Smriti agreed it was reasonably good finish and she would take it.

Putting aside her own frustration, Smriti said she was happy for the rest of the field who not only fought the challenges of the "beautiful" course, but also the hot and humid weather, particularly in the last two days.

Smriti spoke highly of the Indian field, particularly the up-and-coming professionals and amateurs.

Amateur and teenaged Tanya Wadhwa was the next best Indian at tied 19th with a total of 10-over 226 and a final round of 74. Holding out bright prospects for the future was Sharmila Nicollet, another teenaged amateur who aggregated 14-over 230 and was tied 26th, a great finish in an international tournament one so young.

Irina Brar, who was hit by a back problem on second day, withdrew on medical grounds.

Smriti said, "It's good the women's golf is catching up really well. In the next couple of years, you will see more and more women turning professional. In fact, I want most of them playing abroad as well. That's where you really pick the finer points. Tanya is the pick of the lot."

About her own self, Smriti said she is confident of doing well as the season progresses.

"My eyes have taken a long to spot them (reading the greens). I am learning the ropes and with the contact lens, I am able to pick the nuances of the greens abroad. My aim at the moment to play as much as possible in order to be able to break into the top 50," said Smriti.

Maintaining the run of an ace a day, Japan's Satoko Hasegawa became the third player to register a hole-in-one at the DLF Women's Indian Open, when she aced the par-3 11th hole on the third and final day. Hasegawa used a 5-Iron to perfection on 181-yard hole to assure herself a share of the Rs. 50,000 prize put up by Sudhir Gensets. Each player will get Rs. 16,666.66 for their hole-in-one efforts.

Earlier in the tournament, Shih Huei-Ju of Chinese Taipei in the first round and her roommate Chen Kuan-Pei had a hole-in-one each on the first and second days.

Hasegawa shot a 74 and finished at seven-over 223 and in 16th place. Chen and Shih finished at four-over 220 in tied ninth place.

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