Vani, Smriti, Gursimar share lead in women's golf

VANI KAPOOR, SMRITI MEHRA AND GURSIMAR BADWAL finished with identical totals of 149 to tie for first place at the end of the second round of the 17th leg of the Hero Women's Professional Golf Tour being played at the Noida Golf Course in Noida on Thursday.

Trailing the trio in fourth position is Neha Tripathi, who finished with a total score of 151 at the Rs.5 lakh event that will culminate on Friday.

Starting the day in tied third position, Smriti carded a level par score, the best performance of the day to jump into tied first. The Kolkata professional had an eventful front nine with two consecutive birdies on the first and second holes and a bogey and a double on the fourth and fifth respectively.

She did not get the best of starts in her back nine and dropped two consecutive shots on the 11th and 12th. She recovered well, carding three birdies on the 14th, 17th and 18th. Her tally of five birdies was the maximum by any player on the day.

Kapurthala's Gursimar, who started the day in second, came up with a cautious performance to end the day with 2 over 74. She began her round with a birdie on the first but bogeys on the fourth and ninth pegged her back, before a birdie on the 10th helped her restore parity.

She then dropped three consecutive shots on the 11th, 12th and 13th but a birdie on the 14th helped her stay in contention for her maiden professional title.

Overnight leader Vani had a woeful day as she returned with a card of 5 over 77. The Order of Merit leader's round consisted of six bogeys on the fourth, seventh, 10th, 11th, 12th and 16th with just a lone birdie on the 14th.

Kolkata's Neha finished with 2 over 74. She started aggressively, carding three birdies on the fourth, sixth and seventh while dropping shots on the third and eighth. She, however, could not keep the momentum going in the back-nine and dropped four shots on the 10th, 11th, 12th and 18th with a lone birdie on the 13th.

Delhi's Gauri Monga finished with 152 at fifth place after 36 holes. Gauri's round of 3 over 75 consisted of two birdies on the seventh and 14th and bogeys on the third, 12th, 16th, 17th and 18th.

Panchkula's Amandeep Drall, who ended Round 2 with a total of 153, is sixth. Her round included two birdies on the fifth and seventh as against bogeys on the second, fourth, eighth, ninth, and 11th.

Amateur Tavleen Batra is seventh with 159 followed by English player Kiran Matharu, Delhi's Ankita Tiwana and Pune's Shweta Galande in tied eight with identical scores of 161.

The tour comprises of 18 legs spanning across key locations in India.