Avani Prashanth shoots 71 but drops to 11th at WAAP

PATTAYA: Avani Prashanth shot a third straight under par round but still dropped to 11th at the 2024 Women’s Amateur Asia Pacific Championships (WAAP). She now has rounds of 68-69-71 and is 8-under for 54 holes and placed 11th in the strong field.

Avani's third round had two birdies and one bogey and one of the birdies was from the bunker, where she holed her shot.

The leader is Chinese Taipei’s Chun-wei Wu (66) at 18-under and she was followed by Rianne Mikhaela Malixi from the Philippines, who had an eagle on the Par-5 10th. She put together a record round of 9-under 63 and is second at 14-under.

India’s Saanvi Somu, just 15, and playing her first WAAP, shot 75 and is tied 48th. Saanvi had two birdies against five bogeys.

Malixi had a bogey free round with seven birdies and an eagle and was excited to have shot the lowest round in the tournament’s history. She won the Australian Masters of Amateurs last month and was third at the WAAP in 2022 at the same course.

Avani did not have a great day with her iron play and left long birdie putts, most of which she was unable to convert.

She said, “I hit probably every fairway, but my approaches were just either too long or too short. Everything in the line of the pin, which is very frustrating. I couldn't convert after hitting it that far off. Otherwise, it's a good thing that I hit all fairways. Hopefully, tomorrow is better, and I'll just go work on my approaches now.”

China’s Zhang Yahui (66) and Korea’s Hyosong Lee (67) were tied third at 13-under, while Thailand’s Pimpisa Rubrong (68) was fifth.

Thailand’s Novaporn Soontreeyapas (69) got her second hole-in-one in three rounds. After getting the first hole in one on the Par-3 seventh on the first day, she got another hole-in-one on Par-3 16th. She is tied eighth with World No. 4 Minsol Kim and another Thai Achiraya Sriwang (69) at 9-under.