January 28, 2014: The prestigious Royal Calcutta Golf Club, Kolkata is all set to play host to the season’s opening leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf tour 2014. Winner of the 2013 Hero Order of Merit (OOM) and local girl, Neha Tripathi is the clear favourite and will look to start from where she left off last season. Neha was in stupendous form last year, winning five of the 13 legs, and was also the top Indian pro at the tri-sanctioned Hero Women’s Indian Open (HWIO) 2013 finishing tied 24th.
Vani Kapoor, who finished second in the Hero OOM 2013 and tied 34th at the HWIO 2013, is another player to watch out for this season. She has made remarkable progress in the past couple of years and is the one to look out for in the future along with Neha. Veteran golfer Smriti Mehra, who has dominated the domestic tour for many years, would look to bring more consistency to her game this season. She won four of the 11 legs she played in last year and finished tied 34th at the HWIO 2013.
Sharmila Nicollet, the lone Indian at the Ladies European tour who struggled with injuries last year, would look for an injury free 2014. She is the youngest woman golfer from India to retain her card twice at the Ladies European Tour and has twice finished at the top of the Hero Order of Merit.
These top Indian golfers will be challenged by the young and talented brigade of Shraddhanjali Singh, Preetinder Kaur, Pallavi Jain, Shweta Galande, Nikki Ponappa, Saaniya Sharma, Vandana Agarwal, Priya Puri, Ankita Tiwana and Meghna Bal.
