Gaurika in lead at Women’s Pro Golf 5th leg

Gurugram, March 6 (IANS) Gaurika Bishnoi opened up a two-shot lead despite a bogey finish in the first round of the sixth leg of the Womens Pro Golf Tour, here on Wednesday.

Gaurika looking for her first win this season has been close to winning when she finished runner-up in the fourth leg and third in the third leg.

Smriti Mehra, Siddhi Kapoor and Gursimar Badwal are all tied for second at two-over 74, while rookie Ananya Datar and experienced Neha Tripathi are tied-fifth with three-over 75 each.

Gaurika had a flying start with birdies on first and fourth but gave away those gains with bogeys on fifth and seventh. She dropped yet another bogey on Par-4 10th, but quickly made up on the Par-3 11th. A birdie on Par-5 14th indicated an under-par finish before she dropped a shot on the Par-5 18th.

Smriti had one birdie on Par-3 second and after that she dropped shots on seventh, 11th and 14th for a 74, while Siddhi's sole birdie of the day came on Par-4 seventh, the only player to birdie the hole. She had three other bogeys.

Also on 74 was Gursimar, winner of the second leg. She was three-over for the front nine, before she picked up her first birdie on the Par-5 14th, which afforded the maximum birdies on the day. She bogeyed 16th and birdied 17th to finish at 74.

Ridhima Dilawari, who won the fourth leg, had an unimpressive three-over 39 on the back nine and carded four-over 76 to be seventh, while Khushi Khanijau with four bogeys in last four holes shot 77 to be eighth.

Amateur Natalii Gupta and Anisha Padukone shot 78 each to complete the Top-10.

In the second round, Suchitra Ramesh, Jyotsana Singh and Komal Chaudhary will go out together in the first group. Mehar Atwal, Anousha Tripathi and Sifat Alag will follow in the second group, while Ayesha Kapur, Afshan Fatima and Anisha Padukone will make up the third.

The fourth three-ball will see amateur Natalii Gupta, Khushi Khanijau and Ridhima Dilawari, while the penultimate group will feature Neha Tripathi, Ananya Datar and Gursimar Badwal. Siddhi Kapoor, Smriti Mehra and Gaurika Bishnoi will tee off last in the lead group.