Four Indians inside top 20; Maclaren and Hillier set the Target at DLF

Pranavi Urs is the best placed Indian in the field at T10. Meghan MacLaren and Whitney Hillier takes the lead in the rd 1 of the Hero Women’s Indian Open.

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Meghan MacLaren shares lead at the rd1 of Hero Women's Indian Open

Oct 03, 2019: Meghan MacLaren and Whitney Hillier lit up the Gary Player Course at DLF Golf and Country Club this morning to take the clubhouse lead early in the first round of the Hero Women’s Indian Open. Pranavi Urs is leading the Indian charge at T10.

Pranavi is the best placed Indian among all the Indian contingents. She has carded one-under-71 in the opening round to tie for tenth place. Following one shot behind Pranavi, Amandeep Drall, Deeksha Dagar, and Tvesha Malik carded even-par-72 and lying at T18.

The duo, who set out amongst the first groups of the day at 6.45 and 6.55 respectively, carded a pair of five-under-par 67s in hot and still conditions.

MacLaren, 25, from Northants, England, made four birdies on the back nine, known as the ‘Quarry Nine’, which is sculpted through undulating terrain and strewn with boulders.

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The multiple Ladies European Tour tournament champion carded her first birdie on the par-3 12th, then picked up her second shot on the par-4 14th. From there, she birdied the picturesque par-3 16th and the intimidating par-4 17th, which runs uphill towards an extremely elevated green.

Having made the turn in four-under-par 32, she then mixed four birdies with three bogeys on the front nine, known as the ‘Lake Nine.’

She had birdied the first and second to reach six-under-par, but three-putted for a bogey on the long fourth, her 13th hole. An immediate recovery followed with a birdie on the fifth hole, while a second three-putt bogey on the sixth hole was answered with a birdie on the seventh.

Although she signed off with a bogey after missing the green on the ninth hole, MacLaren was generally delighted with her start to the tournament. She missed this event last year, but tied for ninth in the 2017 Hero Women’s Indian Open and feels it suits her strategic game.

She said afterwards: “I made a lot of birdies out there and felt really comfortable. I thought I was going to have a pretty low score but did a couple of stupid things. I can’t complain with where I am after round one.

“Conditions were perfect, actually. It’s not nice getting up at 4 o’clock or whatever, but whenever you’re first out and you’ve got an empty course in front of you, and really, really pure greens at that time of day, before it got sort of burning hot, it was nice and it was nice to take advantage of that, because it’s getting stickier and sticker.

“Today was only the first round and I got a little bit edgy and a little bit of butterflies, but I’ve missed that feeling. I haven’t had that for a while and when you’re in that situation, it’s not always nice but it’s where you want to be. The alternative is that you’ve missed the cut or you’ve made the cut but you’re not playing for anything anymore, and it’s hard to bring out your best golf in those situations. I think it pushes you on and reminds you of why you do it.”

MacLaren successfully defended the NSW Open title in March and recorded three additional top 10 finishes earlier this season, including second place in the Jordan Mixed Open and third in the Jabra Ladies Open. She sits sixth on the order of merit and has the chance to move to the top of the ranking over the final three tournaments of 2019, or with a win this weekend in India.

She added: “I’ve played well this year but haven’t had the best couple of months in the middle. I’d love to finish strong and I’m still in a decent position on the order of merit. Now we’ve got three tournaments left rather than two, that pushes me to show where I was at the start of this year and that is hasn’t disappeared. I’m still the same player and waiting for the right breaks.”

Hillier, (above), is also in a rich vein of form. The 28-year-old from Perth, Australia, started with a bogey on 10 having pulled her tee shot as a result of being slightly distracted by leaving her refillable water bottle in the washroom, but she bounced back with three birdies in a row from the second. She then carded three birdies on the front nine, at the first, sixth and ninth holes to join MacLaren in a share of the lead.

Hillier said: “I shot five-under today. I made six birdies and I bogeyed the first hole, so I actually got that back pretty quickly. Overall I’m really happy with my performance today. I hit my irons well and gave myself lots of birdie chances.

“The course is looking great, as well. Last time I was here it was 2015 and it has changed a lot since then. It is very, very impressive. It’s a beautiful golf course and one of the best in the world, I think.

“With the heat, we teed off at 6.55 and I was very happy with how it started. It only heated up around 11, 12 o’clock, so that was okay. It’s actually quite good for my back, so I can let the swing go and keep it easy and not feel too stiff. I kept calm and patient, so overall it was a good day.”

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