Golfer Vani grabs lead on opening day of Hero Women's Tour

Pune, March 22: Delhi golfer Vani Kapoor carded the only sub-par round of one-under (70) to take the lead on the opening day of the Rs 6,00,000-Hero Womens Professional Tour 2017 at the Poona Club Golf Course here on Wednesday.

Trailing her in tied second position were Amandeep Drall, Gursimar Badwal and Gaurika Bishnoi, all with a score of four-over (75) on the par-71 course.

Vani played out a front nine of fluctuating fortunes, carding two birdies on the fourth and eighth holes. She, however, dropped shots on the fifth and ninth. She started the return at level-par, playing a more controlled and bogey free back nine with a solitary birdie on the 10th.

Panchkula's Amandeep had an indifferent start, carding a bogey on the second hole, but was able to neutralise the damage with a birdie on the seventh on her way out. On the return, she could not sustain the momentum and carded a birdie-less round with bogeys on the 12th and 18th and also a double on the 17th.

Kapurthala's Gursimar Badwal would have hoped for a better start, as she carded bogeys on the first, second and fifth holes with a double on the sixth. Her lone birdie in the front nine came on the seventh. In her back nine, she carded a birdie and a bogey apiece on the 12th and 13th holes, respectively.

Gurgaon's Gaurika Bishnoi carded a birdie on the fifth hole followed by bogeys on the seventh, eighth and ninth on the way out. The return saw a similar script, with a birdie on the 15th followed by dropped shots on the 16th, 17th and 18th.

Bengaluru's Sharmila Nicollet is placed fifth with a score of six-over (77) while Siddhi Kapoor, Trisha Sunil and Shweta Galande are all tied sixth with identical scores of seven-over (78).

Delhi's Mehar Atwal took the ninth position with a score of eight-over (79), followed by Chandigarh's Saaniya Sharma in 10th position with a score of nine-over (80).