Feb 08, 2017: Gursimar Badwal had a topsy-turvy round, but in the end finished the second day in shared lead with first round leader Neha Tripathi at the end of 36 holes in the third leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour on Thursday. Gursimar and Neha were tied at the top at 4-over 146 at the Par-71 Poona Club Golf Course.
Gursimar’s adventurous round had seven birdies, six bogeys and one triple bogey and had only four pars. She played in the lead group alongside Neha and Saaniya Sharma and all three golfers in the lead group had a rough start.
While Gursimar started with three bogeys, Neha had a bogey on first and a double on second. Saaniya doubled bogeyed the par-4 first and then dropped another shot on the third. However, she did manage a birdie in between on the second on the par-3 second.
Gursimar went on a birdie spree from fourth to 15th. She had as many as seven birdies, three on front nine on fourth, seventh and eighth and turned in one-over 36. On the back nine, she birdied 10th, bogeyed 11th and had a hat-trick of birdies from 13th to 15th. At that stage she was one-under for the day and the same for the tournament.
However, the misfortune of a triple bogey on Par-3 16th shook her up enough to drop yet another shot on 17th. She finished the day at 2-over 73.
Neha’s four bogeys and one double against two birdies saw her turn in 4-over 39. On the back nine she had just one bogey but no birdies for a final card of 76 that saw her drop to shared lead.
Saaniya opened with a double, ended with a triple and in between had four other bogeys and just three birdies. She carded 6-over 77 and was lying sole third at 149.
Afshan Fatima (72) had the best card of the day and was Tied-5th with Tvesa Malik (76) at 150. Ayesha Kapur (78) and Trisha Sunil (79) were Tied-6th at 152 while Sonam Chugh (79) was eighth at 155.
Smriti Mehra (77) and Siddhi Kapoor (78) were Tied-9th at 156.
In the final round, the opening group will have Khushi Khanijau, in her maiden pro event, going out with Tavleen Batra and Hita Prakash, while Mehar Atwal, Millie Saroha and Siddhi Kapoor will be the second 3-ball to tee off. Smriti Mehra, Sonam Chugh and Trisha Sunil will play in the third group, while Ayesha Kapur, Tvesa Malik and Afshan Fatima will be in the second to last group.
The lead group comprises Saaniya Sharma, Neha Tripathi and Gursimar Badwal. A win for any of the three will be their first success of the 2018 season.
WGAI Tour Release
