Mehar Atwal takes a narrow lead

Report by Anand Datla

July 08, 2015: Defending champion Mehar Atwal played the only under-par round of 1 under 71 to grab the lead on day 1 of the 10th Leg of the Hero Women’s Professional Golf Tour at the Eagleton Golf Resort, Bengaluru. Trailing Atwal by one stroke are Gursimar Badwal, Vani Kapoor, Ankita Tiwana and Saaniya Sharma who are tied for the second spot at level par after the first round. The event will culminate on 10th July.

Mehar, who won the event here last year as an amateur, started off confidently and was on par score till the sixth hole. She dropped her first shot on the 7th hole but recovered soon by carding her first birdie on the last shot of the front nine. In the back nine, the defending champion did not get the start she would have liked, and dropped a shot on the 11th hole. However, two birdies on the 12th and 17th holes saw her race ahead of the pack.

Gursimar, who could have easily played an under par round, carded five birdies on the 4th, 11th, 13th, 17th, and 18th holes, a record for the day that she shared with Vani Kapoor. However an equal number of bogies on the 2nd, 5th, 7th, 8th and 12th holes undid the good work, and she had to be content with an even par score.

Hero Order of Merit leader Vani Kapoor carded 5 birdies, but dropped three shots along with a double bogey to record a level par score. Birdies on the 2nd, 4th, 8th, 10th and 11th holes were cancelled out by bogies on the 3rd, 13th and 16th holes, along with a double bogey on the 6th hole.

Ankita carded one birdie and a bogey to end the day on par 72. She carded a birdie on the 3rd hole while dropping a shot on the 18th.

Saaniya, the fourth golfer to finish the first round on level par, started off well with a birdie on the first hole. However, she could not sustain the momentum and dropped two consecutive shots on the 3rd and 4th holes. She birdied the next hole but a bogey on the 7th hole spoilt her front nine. She then went on to card two more birdies on the 11th and 17th holes while dropping a shot on the 12th hole.

Rani Sonti and Neha Tripathi ended the first round with a score of 2 over 74. Rani started off on a confident note and carded birdies on the first two holes. However, she could not continue the good run, and dropped shots on the 8th, 10th, 12th, 13th and 17th holes, while her only birdie in the back nine came on the 15th. Neha Tripathi carded a birdie on the 1st and 17th holes, while dropping shots on the 8th,13th,15th and 16th holes to finish at tied sixth position.

Amandeep Drall and Priya Puri are at tied 8th position with identical scores of 3 over 75. Veteran Smriti Mehra, could not deliver on the expected lines and ended the first round with a score of 6 over 78.

The amateurs in the fray did not perform up to expectation. While Diksha and Trisha returned with a card of 4 over 76 to finish on tied 10th position along with Shweta Galande, Millie Saroha and Suchitra Ramesh ended the day at tied 15th position. Astha Madan and Raksha Phadke are at 17th and 18th position respectively.

Follow Us: Twitter.com/GolfingIndian

Join Us: Facebook.com/GolfingIndian

Download Our APP Here